Detective In Town
by long live marshmallows
Summary: COMPLETED STORY: A detective investigates the Tenth Vongola Family and manages to get himself caught in a deadly plot. Not much violence in the first half of the chapters... No pairings, mostly humour and crazy stuff of the like.
1. Investigation Starts!

**Detective In Town**

Thank you for checking out this story! I hope you enjoy reading it.

In case you don't know me or haven't read something I've written before, I am LLM or LLM-chan for short (you can call me whatever you want) who is a fan of KHR!

I think that's good enough for a short profile.

_**-LLM**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

**Police HQ Somewhere in Japan**

"Sir!" An officer stood at attention in his commander's office. "We have found news of Dino Bronco appearing in Namimori!"

"_What?" _The commander roared. The officer flinched as he held the clip board. "What is a Mafia boss doing there?"

"A-Apparently, he went to visit someone in the Sawada Residence..."

"Sawada? What connections do they have with the Mafia? And who the hell are they?"

"Sawada household includes a mother: Sawada Nana, a father: Sawada Iemitsu, who is traveling, and their fifteen year old son: Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"They seem to be a normal family. Why is Dino there?"

"S-Sawada Tsunayoshi is the tenth Vongola boss, sir...he had the Inheritance Ceremony two weeks ago—" The commander slammed his hands on the desk and stood up. He glared at his subordinate with annoyance. "How come I've never heard of this before?"

"W-We just found out ourselves... sir..." The commander blew out a breath and lifted a hand towards the officer. "... S-sir?"

"The _file, _give me the file on Sawada Tsunayoshi!" He snatched it and flipped it open to see a picture of a brunet with soft brown eyes and a smiling mouth wearing his school uniform. He blinked twice. "Are you sure your information is accurate?" He asked as he went through the records of Sawada Tsunayoshi; where he went to school, his grades, his police records—he's stayed overnight in a cell once, when he was accused for being part of the three thieves who suddenly ran into the police station and confessed for their crimes.

"What's wrong with the information, sir? The source is reliable," the confused officer replied. The commander threw the file at the officer. The pages scattered all over the floor.

"He's an idiot! He probably can't even give anyone a scare, let alone be the next Vongola boss!"

"But sir—!"

"If you are so sure with this, then get a detective to follow this... this _boy!_ Now get out!" The officer gave him a quick salute and ran out closing the door behind him. The commander growled. _I forgot to get him to pick up the damn papers, _he thought to himself. He went around his desk to gather the papers and came across more pictures. Still kneeling, he looked at the five photos. The first was of a silver haired boy with green eyes. He had a scary glare. The next one was entirely different—he was a tall boy with short black hair with a smile that can put even him at ease. The next was a boxing player with silver hair as well. The fourth photo gave him a shiver just by looking at it. A boy with jet black hair glared back at him. He wore the disciplinary committee's badge on his arm and a jacket over his shoulders. The last picture made the commander frown. It was a picture of Dino Bronco laughing and talking comfortably with Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Although he didn't believe that Sawada Tsunayoshi can be a Mafia boss, he certainly had something to do with them. Maybe Dino's distant cousin?

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori, Sawada Residence <strong>

"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said, seven thirty in the morning. "Wake up." Tsuna groaned and turned over. "I said _wake up!" _Leon transformed into a green hammer and Reborn used this to knock Tsuna off the bed. He fell to the floor in a clumsy heap along with his pillow and blanket, tangled around his legs.

"Reborn... it's only seven thirty... why are you waking me up so early when it's not a school day?" The baby wearing a Mafia suit jumped onto his student's chest.

"Mama wants you to go grocery shopping. And as a Mafia boss, you should always wake up early." Tsuna sat up and scratched the back of his brown haired head.

"I don't want to be Boss."

"You had the ceremony already. There's no going back. Once you graduate from high school, Vongola Nono plans on taking an early retirement to travel the world. You will be taking his place then. You better get used to the idea. Oh—that reminds me. I need to teach you, Yamamoto, Ryohei, and Hibari how to speak fluently in Italian, starting tomorrow after school."

"HIIIEEE!" Tsuna exclaimed. "No way! That's terrible!"

"Tsu-kun," his mother called from downstairs. "Can you go to the market for me? And also take I-pin and Lambo with you! I have to go somewhere else!" Tsuna moaned at his bad luck. Knowing Lambo, he will probably go running all over the place and leave him with the job of chasing after the troublesome baby.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, they were ready to go, with Reborn perched on Tsuna's head.<p>

"Baka-Tsuna! Lambo-san wants to buy candy! Lots and lots of candy!" The baby in cow print said. I-pin caught up to them and lectured, "Lambo! Don't be greedy! We are going to buy groceries, not candy. Candy isn't healthy for you."

"Yeah, Lambo," Tsuna said, "listen to I-pin." Lambo pouted and reached into his mass of black curly hair. The brunet looked at the baby cautiously and walked two paces to the left, away from Lambo. Reborn grinned.

"Good job, Tsuna. You have the quick instincts to sense danger. If only your reflexes were that good."

"HIIEEE?" he felt something tap his shoe. Looking down, he saw a pink grenade. His eyes widened. Reborn jumped off him just as the bomb exploded.

BOOM!

As the smoke cleared, two of them were covered in street muck. I-pin's assassin training helped her avoid the blow. Lambo began to cry and Tsuna sighed. His blue sweater was covered with holes and soot. He picked up Lambo and held him so that he can look straight into his eyes.

"We'll buy you _one _piece of candy after we finish shopping, alright?" Lambo sniffed and nodded.

Further back, a man dressed in a navy blue t-shirt and blue jeans was hiding. He was the detective. What was that explosion just now? He shook his head and wrote some observations down.

_Day 1: Sunday_

_08:02_

_Target is accompanied by three babies: black, cow-print, and red._

_Cow-print baby carries grenades that don't do real harm, for no _

_one was killed in such a close distance... or perhaps the reason the _

_target can still stand up with those tiny injuries all over his body _

_is because he is used to such and has no trouble holding in the pain?_

_Target does not act rationally at this. Perhaps it happens often?_

_Target heads to the market._

Reborn looked behind them as Tsuna spoke with a man selling apples. He saw a man in his late twenties with short black hair looking at them behind a newspaper sitting on a bench. No one other than the best hitman in the world would have noticed, unless they are very observant. His student walked away and entered the air conditioned store with Lambo and I-pin trailing in after them. Reborn jumped to Tsuna's left shoulder.

"Tsuna! Do you notice anything strange?" The brunet looked at him and frowned.

"Yes... I'm being followed..." Reborn's eyebrows shot up. Had his student lost some of his stupidity and learned to trust his Hyper Intuition? Tsuna continued with a grim smile, not really thinking before speaking, "by three very annoying babies." Reborn's tiny fist dug into the back of his ear. _Tsk. He has only gotten cockier. I need to train him more._

"OW!" He screamed. Everyone looked at him. He apologised with a slight bow and whispered, "You didn't need to punch me."

"Well?" Reborn demanded. "Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary?"

"... Ever since we left the house, I had the feeling that someone was watching me—but it's just a feeling, right?" He asked in a panic. "I don't want any more trouble, since Enma-kun and his guardians already left to go back home. _Please_ tell me there isn't another danger around us?"

Reborn smirked and lowered his hat. "You tell me, Dame-Tsuna."

* * *

><p>On their way back, Tsuna had a hard time carrying all the food and Reborn refused to help.<p>

"You can't get babies to help you carry things, Dame-Tsuna. Do it yourself."

"But it's _heavy!" _he whined.

"Then treat it as training. Or else I will shoot you right here and now!" Reborn had Leon ready.

"HIEE! Never mind, Reborn! Just _don't shoot me!"_ Everyone on the street turned to stare at their group. Reborn shot him anyways. The brunet slowly fell to the ground, unmoving. Then suddenly, a flame lit his forehead.

"RE..._BORN_!" His clothing tore away as he gave a mighty roar, wearing only his red hearted boxers. "I WILL CARRY THESE GROCERY BAGS HOME WITH MY DYING WILL! ARRGGH!" Reborn hopped on for the speedy ride. Tsuna grabbed I-pin and Lambo. He threw them onto the top grocery bag and charged home, ignoring the gasps and stares. He arrived at his door step in five minutes, just when the bullet wore off. He stiffened when he saw Gokudera and Ryohei arguing in front of his house.

"Um, what are you two arguing about now, Gokudera-kun, Onii-san?" They stopped immediately and looked at him.

"Yo, Sawada!"

"Jyuudaime, good morning!"

"G-Good morning... what's wrong this time?"

"Jyuudaime," Gokudera said. "I was just walking around and happened to come by here so I dropped by for a visit. And then this Lawn-Head just _happened_ to finish his jog around Namimori and came here for a cold drink! Then I told him that he can't just come by and ask for a drink!"

"WHAT'S EXTREMELY WRONG WITH THAT?" Ryohei roared. "You're just coming by for a visit anyways! I'm just asking for a drink to the _EXTREME_!"

"Ah..." Tsuna said as they bickered. "Why don't you both come in? Kaa-san went out today so I'll be taking care of the kids myself... which is a drag."

"Yes, Jyudaime!" Gokudera said with a gleaming smile.

"Yosh! I will help you to the _EXTREME_!"

They all went in. Lambo and I-pin went to the backyard to play whilst the others went to the living room, where they had a good view of the two kids through the sliding doors. Reborn looked over his shoulder to see a huffing shadow lurking near the street corner. He glowered. So he wasn't able to shake him off. This will be interesting.

* * *

><p>"Here you go, Onii-san," Tsuna put the energy drink in front of Ryohei and an espresso for reborn. "Gokudera-kun, would you like anything to drink?"<p>

"I'll get it myself, Jyuudaime!"

"Thanks to the _EXTERME, _Sawada!" Tsuna smiled. He was used to Ryohei barging in at random hours, asking for a drink each time he visited. His mom also knew of this and admired Ryohei's ability to run every day around town at least twice a day. She kept their fridge stocked with Ryohei's favourite sports drink, for these times. Gokudera came back with juice and sat down across the table from Ryohei, making it obvious that he didn't like him. Tsuna sat between them with a drop of precipitation rolling down his face. Reborn sat in front of the three of them and sipped his espresso. "Tsuna has been followed today to the market," he said.

"What!" The two guardians yelled. "By who? Why?"

"R-Reborn...we don't really know that," their boss said.

"Dame-Tsuna!" Reborn whacked him on the head. "Your Hyper Intuition warned you about it but you were too stupid to pay any attention. I actually saw the man following us."

"Who is he?" The three teens asked in unison.

"Is he trying to get you to join his boxing club?" Ryohei asked.

"Tch—you Lawn-Head, no! Jyuudaime might be in danger now and all you can think about is _boxing?" _Gokudera raised his fist at Ryohei.

"Eek! Gokudera-kun! Calm down!" Tsuna urged. Then he noticed the sliding door open. He EEP'd again and got everyone's attention. No one appeared. Gokudera had his dynamite ready.

"Yo!" Yamamoto greeted them with a laugh. The brunet sighed with relief.

"Dame-Tsuna, you scare too easily," Reborn said.

"You baseball nut! Why didn't you use the front door?" Gokudera yelled.

"Now, now, Gokudera. I heard Lambo and I-pin outside so I just popped by and played catch with them!" Gokudera and Tsuna blinked. Ryohei nodded his head in approval.

"Playing with the little ones is good," he said.

"You played catch with them?" Tsuna repeated slowly.

"Were you the pitcher?" Gokudera asked.

"Yeah! Is there a problem?" Yamamoto asked all the while smiling. Tsuna rushed outside with Gokudera at his heels. Lambo was lying on the grass with a red mark on his face that looked like it was made from a baseball.

"Lambo! Are you okay?" I-pin shook Lambo and got a soft whimper for a reply.

"Gotta...stay...calm...WHAAAHH!" Lambo cried. He thrashed around and took out the ten-year-bazooka and shot it. It hit him, I-pin, and Gokudera.

"G-Gokudera...kun?" Tsuna asked.

"Eh? Where'd they go now?" Yamamoto let out a laugh.

"I don't know to the _EXTREME!"_

"Eh?" a deeper voice exclaimed. The pink mist cleared and a ten year older Lambo, I-pin, and Gokudera appeared. All three of them were cloaked for battle.

"EHH!" Tsuna yelped. "What's going on?" Gokudera didn't even glance up. He was feeling the front of his black suit anxiously, then patted his head and looked at his hands.

"Eh? What happened? How come I'm not hurt?" he wondered aloud. Then he finally looked at his surroundings. His gaze landed on his boss. "Fifteen year old Jyuudaime...? I'm in the past?" He looked shocked and relieved.

"Sawada-san!" I-pin greeted with a bow.

Tsuna looked at I-pin. She was breathing in deeply in short breaths in a fighting stance. Her hand had a red healing gash and her face sported a bruise. Lambo was in his Vongola Gear and so was Gokudera.

"W-What's going on, everyone?" Tsuna asked again, worried about the answer. Gokudera collapsed on the grass.

"For once I'm thankful for you, stupid cow!" He hit Lambo on the head. He looked up at Tsuna and explained. "We're in the middle of a small battle with another Mafia familiga, Jyuudaime. I was just being shot at, and then I ended up here without getting hit."

"HIIIEE!" Tsuna wailed. Then his knees buckled and he sat down hard. "Why does this always happen?"

"Oi! Octopus-Head! Do you want me to help heal you to the _EXTREME!" _Ryohei asked, although he was already using his sun flames to heal the three of them.

"Ah... good idea, Onii-san..." Tsuna sighed. "Good thing _I _wasn't hit with the bazooka this time..."

"That is called wishful thinking, Dame-Tsuna. And if Gokudera is fighting a Mafia battle, then that means you have become Vongola Decimo," Reborn said with a wide smile. "Congrats."

"Yeah," Gokudera agreed. "Jyuudaime is a magnificent leader!"

"I can't take this anymore!" Tsuna yelled. He rolled around the grass trying to calm his head. Then he stopped. "Gokudera-kun, is everyone else alright?"

"Ah, that. We're winning the battle." He grinned at his boss. "You were awesome, Jyuudaime! You took out a dozen of them in just three seconds!"

"No!" Lambo said. "It was more than three seconds! Stop exaggerating, Bakadera!"

"This is great news, Tsuna. Now let's start training you some more." Reborn kicked Tsuna behind the neck and his student fell forwards.

"Jyuudaime! Are you alright?" Tsuna lifted his head to see that Lambo, Gokudera, and I-pin had returned, although now they had a few scratches and Lambo was wailing all over again. Gokudera of the present also had his Vongola Gear out, with his Systema CAI activated.

"Lambo-san doesn't wanna grow up! IT'S TOO SCARY!"

"You were awesome, Jyuudaime!" Gokudera cried. "Now I'm absolutely sure that you'll be a great leader!"

_T-That's the same thing your future self said! _Tsuna thought despairingly. _Now I know I'll never be freed from being Vongola Decimo..._

* * *

><p>The next day, Tsuna walked out the house, ready for school ten minutes earlier than usual. This was all because Reborn kicked and punched at him all the while he was waking up, getting dressed and eating breakfast.<p>

"I'm off," Tsuna said and closed the door. His Hyper Intuition was bothering him again, but he was too tired to care about it.

_Day 2: Monday_

_07:30_

_Target's house shakes. Something that may be a bomb is set off and a scream _

_is heard. There is some yelling heard from outside. Even if the target is not _

_the boss, there is something going on with his family._

_08:00_

_Target leaves his house to go to school. He looks tired with the baby in black following him._

_Nothing is unusual other than this morning's commotion and yesterday's odd events._

Gokudera was whistling and walking towards Tsuna's house, wondering how he should greet his boss this morning, when he saw a suspicious looking figure looking at Jyuudaime's home.

"Oi, oi! What are you doing, sneaking around Jyuudaime's house?" The detective heard someone behind him and whirled around, swiftly hiding his notepad. The young fierce teen glared at him. He recognised this boy as a friend of the target. If he could somehow get close to this boy...

"Hello! I just moved here, and I was just admiring the houses!" The youth blinked at him.

_That is the lamest excuse I've ever heard in my life... _Gokudera thought, not knowing that the detective was thinking the same thing.

"Tch! You were sneaking around Jyuudaime's house, alright! What's your business with him? Tell me or I'll stuff you with bombs!" He produced three sticks of dynamite in each hand out of nowhere.

"HIIE!"

The detective turned around, half expecting a girl to stand before him. Instead, it was Sawada Tsunayoshi.

"...Gokudera-kun! What are you doing? Put those away!" The young target squeaked.

"J-Jyuudaime! What brings you here?" Gokudera hides his dynamite as if nothing happened.

_Jyuudaime? _The detective thought. _That means tenth...right? Tenth Generation..._Mafia BOSS? _Impossible! This little whelp is the boss of the largest family?_

"Gokudera-kun... you're scaring people like that," Tsuna put in carefully.

"If you say so, Jyuudaime... but I found this man lurking about! He was following you, but he says that he just moved here!"

Tsuna looked at the black haired man in alarm. Before anyone could say anything, Lambo ran into the scene.

"Reborn! I'm going to get you this time! HAHAHAHAH-ahhh!" Tsuna watched as Lambo tripped over Reborn feet and tossed the grenade high in the air, with the pin pulled out.

"_HIIIEE!" _Tsuna yelled. "Reborn! What did you do that for! Now we're all doomed!" Tsuna quickly looked at the man who was his new neighbour. Surprisingly, the man was calm and ready to run. And that was what he did.

"Jyuudaime! Look out!" Gokudera pushed Tsuna out of the way just as the bomb landed.

"Ow..."

"Jyuudaime! Are you alright?" Gokudera asks in a worried tone.

"Ah... yeah. I just made it out with my life. Thanks, Gonkudera-kun!" Gokudera sighs with relief and stands up, offering a hand to his fallen boss.

"Now..." He marched up to the man, who was now trying to get away. Gokudera pushes the man against Tsuna's house. "What were you spying for?"

"I'd like to know as well," Reborn said. He landed on the short wall above the man. "If you don't answer truthfully, I will kill you." He held his green Leon-gun steadily.

"Don't kill him, Reborn!" Tsuna yelled. He bowed to the stranger. "I'm _really _sorry! Were you injured in any way?" The detective looked at his target, stunned. The boy was telling the baby to not kill him? Shouldn't he be saying, 'Stop joking around and leave the poor man alone'?

"I-I'm just an honest man who has an honest job, who lives in an honest home." Reborn didn't believe him. He looked deep into the man's eyes. The detective felt as though he was being read like an open book.

"He's a detective investigating the tenth Vongola Family," Reborn announced.

"Ehh!" Tsuna said, instantly worried. Reborn's mind reading was never wrong. There hasn't been any investigation on all the commotion coming from his house before, so he thought that there was nothing to worry about! But now, there was actually a detective looking in on their every move? _I-I think I'll try to play out of this... _Tsuna thought. "V-Vongola Family? As in... _Mafia _family? W-why here? Mafia gathers in Italy, right? Ahaha..." Tsuna laughed it off.

"N-No! You are mistaken! I just moved here!" The man said in a panicked tone.

_Eh? _Tsuna thought, his face serious for a moment. _He's lying... Well, not about him just moving here... that's true, but... he _is _investigating about the Vongola Family! _The small brunet frowned, worried about his friends' safety.

"Yo!" Yamamoto greeted. "What's up? This is a big gathering."

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna felt relieved. "Do you think you can stop Gokudera and Reborn from hurting this man? They just started questioning him out of the blue about the Vongola! Reborn also says that this man is a detective!"

_This man is a detective? Finally! This Mafia game was getting boring without a detective! _Yamamoto thought. He knew that the Mafia and Vongola were real, but it was still a game to him. A deadly serious game, but a game nonetheless.

"Now, now, Gokudera! Just let the poor man go! We're going to be late for school if you don't! And didn't _Tsuna_ already ask you to let him go?" Yamamoto asked. He hinted that Gokudera was disobeying Tsuna's order, and he was shocked. He immediately released the man and gave Tsuna a deep bow.

"I'm terribly sorry, Jyuudaime! I refused to listen to your orders! Please forgive me! I'm so sorry!"

"I-It's okay, Gokudera-kun! No harm done! But we have to get going now, or else—"

"Herbivores."

Tsuna froze and slowly turned around. Hibari, the leader of the disciplinary committee has arrived.

"H... Hibari-san!"

"Herbivores. Get to school. You'll be late. And stop crowding. Or I will bite you to death," Hibari said. He took out his pair of tonfa.

"Y-yes!" Tsuna yelped and quickly ran towards the school.

"Jyuudaime! Wait for us!"

"Yeah, Tsuna! Slow down!"

Hibari noticed the man and the baby.

"Baby," he greeted.

"Ciaossu," Reborn said.

"Who are you?" Hibari asked the detective. "Why haven't I seen you here before?"

"I-I just moved here..." he said. He could feel that this man had a dangerous aura around him. Reborn corrected, "He's a detective, looking into some Mafia family called Vongola." Reborn frowned. He pretended to not know Vongola, but to hear he himself call it 'some family', was insulting. To redeem himself, he knocked the man out cold.

Hibari frowned. "I don't like new people who move into Namimori. If he is what you say he is, then there will be more trouble. Get rid of him."

Reborn smirked. "I was just planning on interrogating him under Dame-Tsuna's house. I made a room there without him knowing. Wanna help me after school?"

HIbari thought for a moment and smiled evilly. "As long as none of the Herbivores interfere; now, baby. Fight me." He raised the tonfa.

"If you don't go to school now, you won't be able to bite late comers to death," Reborn said in a plain tone. Hibari seemed to think this over and put his weapons away.

"Another time then, baby."

"Ciao-ciao!~"


	2. More Problems

**Chapter Two**

That day at school, Tsuna had not even a single moment of peace. First there was that blasted math test he had to pass, then there was the Gokudera and Yamamoto "argument" (although Yamamoto simple laughed off all of Gokudera's comments), and then Hibari's famous "I'll bite you to death" threat because they were disrupting the peace of Namimori. He sighed as he finally left the school with his two friends.

"I wonder what happened to the detective... Reborn better not do anything stupid..." he let his sentence trail on as he saw Hibari briskly walking past the three of them but not before glancing at their way and giving a small smirk.

"Why that—he just made fun of Juudaime!" Gokudera yelled.

"Now, now, Gokudera, no need to be angry!" Yamamoto laughed. Tsuna watched them and turned his head towards the direction Hibari went.

"Guys... I have a bad feeling about this. I don't know about you, but I think I should head home... like right now." Without another word to his friends, he dashed after Hibari, leaving Yamamoto and Gokudera standing there, unblinking.

"Tsuna should really join the sports team, haha," Yamamoto laughed.

"Yo, Gokudera! Is Tsuna doing some _EXTREME _training?" Ryohei asked. Kyoko and Hana were behind him. Gokudera ignored them.

"JUUDAIME! WAIT FOR MEEE!" And off he went. "Whoa, hold up, Gokudera!" Yamamoto followed suit.

"Oi! Don't leave me out of this training!" Ryohei roared. He turned to his sister. "Kyoko! Can you go home by yourself?"

"Mm! Don't worry about me, Onni-chan!" Kyoko said with a reassuring smile. Ryohei nodded and ran after his friends.

Tsuna madly opened his front door. "REBORN!" His mother popped her head out from the kitchen.

"Oh, Tsu-kun! Welcome home! Aren't you a little early today?"

"Oh, hi mom, I'm back. Have you seen Reborn?" Tsuna asked nervously.

"Ah, Reborn-kun? He and a nice man went into the basement!"

"EEH? We have a basement?" Tsuna was utterly shocked. "How come I've never seen the door for it?"

"Reborn-kun had it made while we all went to that wonderful island a while ago!" Nana replied happily. _Does she mean... MAFIA LAND? _Tsuna thought in horror. "I haven't seen the basement myself, but according to Reborn-kun, it's really impressive!"

"How do I get there?" The fretting boss asked.

"Reborn-kun said that the entrance was hidden in the backyard but he wouldn't tell me where..." Nana frowned. "What is that boy up to?"

"E-Eh? What do you mean?" Tsuna stuttered.

"You, Reborn-kun, and your friends have been up to something ever since Reborn-kun came to tutor you, Tsu-kun. What is going on?" His mother had a worried expression on her face.

_Eh... I can't tell her about the Mafia... or all the fights we've had with Xanxus and the future, and the misunderstanding with Enma-kun! She'll freak out!_

"We-We'll talk later, mom! Right now I have to find Reborn! Thanks!" Tsuna took this opportunity to avoid his mother's unanswerable questions.

"Alalaa! Tsuna! Play with me!" Lambo screamed.

"Not now, Lambo!"

"But you're heading for the backyard!" Lambo followed Tsuna. "That means you're gonna play with me, ne?"

"Juudaime!"

"Tsuna!"

"SAWADA!"

"Oh! You're here? Listen, Reborn made a basement and I think that also means interrogation! We have to stop him!"

"Tsuna, what are you talking about?" The brunet turned around. Reborn was standing by the door, his fedora hat tipped down.

"Reborn! What did you do with the man? And why didn't you tell me you were making a basement in my house?" Tsuna yelled.

"If I told you I made an interro—I mean, a _basement _in the house, you would have made me somehow remove it," Reborn said innocently.

"Ahh! Of course I would tell you to destroy it! I don't want you to use it to hurt anyone!" Tsuna looked around the backyeard frantically for a secret switch Reborn may have put on the gate, or the tree, or on the ground.

"Dame-Tsuna. I'm not interrogating him," Reborn said plainly. Tsuna turned around.

"What do you mean? Wasn't that what you're supposed to do?"

"Wow, Dame-Tsuna. Your Mafia boss brain told you to interrogate the detective to get information out of him? It looks like you have matured into a fine boss!"

"Hiiee! That's not the point, Reborn! Show me where the room is!" Reborn sighed and jumped onto Yamamoto's head.

"Yo, kid!"

"Yamamoto, move towards that tree, will ya?"

"Sure!" Once there, Reborn raised his tiny right hand to pull down a branch. Instead of snapping off, it bent and revealed a black button inserted into the tree. Tsuna and Gokudera gawked at him.

"Amazing, Reborn-san!" Gokudera said. Reborn grinned. In a corner of the yard, a grass-covered trapdoor lifted. A deep, dimly lit set of stairs greeted them.

"Ano... Reborn..." Tsuna began.

"Go down there if you want to be bitten to death," Reborn advised.

"EEH? Hibari-san's down there?"

"He strictly told me to not let any of the herbivores interrupt his interrogation."

"What! That poor man is probably half dead, Reborn! We have to save him!" Reborn grinned.

"Go save him then." Reborn kicked Tsuna down into the deep, descending staircase. He rolled and bounced all the way to the bottom, where he was met with a pair of glaring ice cold eyes.

"Herbivore," Hibari said calmly. "What. Are. You. Doing. Down. Here."

"A-ah. Hibari-s-s-san?" HIbari raised an eyebrow. "W-Well, I was um... just..." Tsuna gulped.

"He wants to tell you to stop or else he will beat you up," Reborn supplied.

"HIIE! No that's not what I meant, Hibari-san!" Tsuna shook his head vigorously. Hibari continued to glare at Tsuna, taking out his tonfas.

*A#SUGF! _JFUEHF ~! !FCIUDSHF_ Q;!*

...

"Juu...daime...?" Gokudera looked around for his boss.

"Over here..." Tsuna replied. Gokudera squinted and looked to the left.

"Juudaime! What happened to you? Your face is covered with bruises!"

"Hn. I got on the wrong side with Hibari-san." Tsuna replied with a little difficulty.

"Do you have a light, kid?" Yamamoto wondered when he came down.

"Sure." Then the lights came on. Tsuna winced as his eyes adjusted. He saw walls covered with things he didn't want to know about. The detective was sitting on a chair with his head slumped on the table in front of him.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?"

"He was like this when I came. The infant took all the fun in disciplining him," Hibari said in an angry tone.

"Well, you took forever to get here so I just started a few hours earlier," Reborn said.

"P-please, can we just let him go?" Tsuna walked up to the man and looked him over for injuries. He had none. "Wait Reborn. Why don't I see any marks on him?"

"That's because I used a special technique of hurting people. No marks of abuse show up at all though he must be experiencing hell right now."

"No wonder you haven't been called for child abuse yet, you demon," Tsuna muttered under his breath. He heard a gun being cocked.

"Care to repeat that again?" Reborn asked.

"N-No! Never mind!"

"Humph. Anyhow, I did find some things on him."

"Like what, kid?" The baseball fanatic asked. Reborn showed them a picture of Dino and Tsuna talking to each other as well as the notepad.

"Dino-san? And _ME?" _

"Behind it says 'Dino Bronco, Mafia boss. Sawada Tsunayoshi . target, Mafia boss'. We definitely know for sure that they're trying to infiltrate the Vongola through Dino's family. That stupid student of mine led them straight to you. I have to teach him a lesson."

"Why are there so many problems?" Tsuna wailed. "Why, why, _why, WHY?"_

"Well, we're in a real mess now. The police know that you are the next Vongola boss and will definitely keep an eye on you from now on."

"How do we stop them?" Tsuna wondered.

"Juudaime! You don't need to worry about that! I can just blast this guy to outer space! Maybe some UMA will take him!"

"Yes. We will have to kill him and destroy everything related to the investiagation," Reborn said.

"No! We can't kill him!" Tsuna stood in front of the man looking at everyone else. Little did he know that the detective had already regained consciousness when Tsuna came rolling down the steps, but he had the sense of not moving. _What! That baby wants to kill me! He's a baby! _The detective thought.

"Dame-Tsuna. I am a hitman. I can kill him without anyone knowing." Reborn said flatly. "It is my job to protect the Vongola from any harm." The detective frowned to himself. Best hitman in the world? (scoff) _...But then again... he did give me a good beating...oh, who am I kidding? Even a five year old can hit that hard._

"But... I still won't let you harm him anymore! He's just doing his job!" _The target's crazy to think that the baby can kill me...why did I sign up for this mess? Oh. Right—I'll get paid _a lot _more if I find solid evidence to help infiltrate the Vongola._

"But Juudaime! Reborn-san is right! We can't just let him walk out there and announce to the world that you are the next boss of the most powerful and influential Mafia family in history!" Then Gokudera paused and grinned. "Actually... letting everyone know how wonderful you are won't be such a bad idea..." _Ah ha. Now this is interesting..._

"No, Gokudera-kun! That will label me as a bad guy! I don't want to be a bad guy!" Tsuna freaked out and began to hyperventilate.

Reborn sighed, "Fine." He removed the bullets in the gun and switched for another kind. "Get out of the way, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna stood firmly with determination in his eyes. "No, Reborn! If you're going to kill him—"

"_Herbivore."_ The single word stopped him. The room grew ten degrees colder. The detective almost shivered. _"_You're crowding and making too much noise. Get out. Or I'll bite you to death." Tsuna's legs began to shake. _Are they sure that this man is not the _real _hitman? Because if there really is one, this man is the closest._

_Now what will you do, Dame-Tsuna? _Reborn wondered.

"H-Hibari-san! We can't just kill the guy!" Inside his head, Tsuna was screaming to himself. His mind wanted to run but his legs didn't move. _And now they're talking about killing me again... _(sigh)

"You dare defy me?" Hibari stared at him.

"Dame-Tsuna, move. I won't kill him, alright?" Reborn said. Since he was saving his student's neck, he'll have him repay him somehow. Very painfully...

"I'm going to shoot him a memory loss bullet."

"A memory loss... bullet?" _Wait. What's going on? What's happening?_

"He will forget what happened today. Now move before I get Hibari to beat you up."

"I don't follow your orders, baby." Reborn ignored him. He said, "Besides, we've spoken too much. He's heard all we've discussed so far. He even heard us admit that we're Mafioso. There's no other choice."

"HIIEE!" _Oh no..._

"Move, Dame-Tsuna."

Reluctantly, Tsuna slowly moved aside and Reborn instantly shot the man in the head. A blue light shimmered around the detective and vanished. _Ugh...what's...happe..._

"Gokudera, Yamamoto. Take the detective and leave him in the park. Then come back to Tsuna's room. We will start lessons then."

"What kind of lessons?" Yamamoto asked as he hoisted the man's right arm over his shoulder. Gokudera did the same on the other side.

"Heh. Of course, it's going to be Italian lessons. Hibari is welcome to join us."

"HIIIIEE!"

"Don't waste your breath, baby," Hibari said. "I will not learn Italian with a bunch of herbivores." Having said that, he left. Tsuna and Reborn were the only ones left and he was in a daze. Reborn kicked him.

"Dame-Tsuna. Change out of your uniform and wait for your guardians."

"Ow, Reborn..." He trudged up the steps with Reborn sitting on his head. He almost tripped and earned himself a smack on the head from Reborn.

"Dame-Tsuna, if you drop me you're dead."

"Sorry." This happened ever since Reborn appeared. At first, Tsuna continuously tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground. But after several beatings from Reborn, he automatically regains his balance without dropping him.

* * *

><p>After three whole hours of Italian being forced into his brain, Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Ryohei were finally allowed to finish their actual school homework.<p>

"ARRGG! THIS QUESTION IS EXTREMELY HARD!"

"Shut up, Lawn-Head!" Gokudera yelled. He had already finished all of his school work and was helping Tsuna.

"Ahaha! I think it's fifty," Yamamoto said and wrote that down. Tsuna sweatdropped and stared at the question. Reborn in turn, watched him. If Tsuna made a wrong move, the three explosives surrounding him would blow up. Reborn threw a pencil in Yamamto's direction. Yamamoto quickly moved his head aside and caught the pencil between two fingers.

"Opps," he said. "What's up, kid? More reflex training?"

"The answer is not fifty."

"IT'S FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE!" Ryohei roared.

"Ehh? How did you get that answer?" Tsuna asked. "Onii-san, you sound really sure of yourself."

"Surprisingly, the boxing man has the correct answer," Reborn mused.

"EHH!"

"But Dame-Tsuna didn't answer it so..." Reborn pushed the lever and

BOOM!

"Ahaha!" Yamamoto laughed. "Was that a firework display?"

"Juudaime! Are you alright?"

"A-yah... somehow."

Two hours later, Tsuna finally caught up and finished all his work including the overdue ones.

"Finally!" Tsuna sighed and plopped onto the bed. Yamamoto and Ryohei lay down on the floor. Reborn looked at the clock. "Tsuna! It's only nine o'clock! The sun is still up. Don't waste daylight."

"Ehh... Reborn, you sound like—" Tsuna decided to not continue the sentence.

_"Do you understand me?" _Reborn said in Italian. Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Ryohei stared at Reborn.

"Erm..." Tsuna said, racking his brain. "Do...you...uh...understand _me_?" Tsuna squeaked the last word out and closed his eyes, ready for the explosion. None came. He slowly reopened them.

"Hm. That's no fun," Reborn pouted.

"Eh?"

"Congratulations, Juudaime! You got it right!" Gokudera looked at Tsuna with awe. Tsuna's eyes widened. "Really? REALLY? YEAH!"

"Nice, Tsuna!" Yamamoto laughed. "Even I could only get a word of that."

"R-Really?" Tsuna had a weak smile. He half guessed the answer because that phrase is usually what someone asks first when you meet them and you look foreign.

"We will continue lessons tomorrow," Reborn said. "Mama said that you can stay for dinner if you want." They all decided to stay. Yamamoto wanted to eat the food and Gokudera won't let the baseball freak be around the tenth without the right-hand man present. Ryohei accepted an eating contest with Lambo.

"Reborn," Tsuna said quietly as chaos erupted around him at the dinner table. "The detective is still going to come back, right? Just because he forgot about today doesn't mean that he will give up."

"That's true."

"W-What if he actually comes and asks mom about it? He might actually tell her that we're Mafia! What do I do, Reborn?" Tsuna said.

"We'll deal with it later, Dame-Tsuna. Eat your food before it's all gone." Reborn finished his and began to drink his milk. The brunet turned his head back to his plate and stared. His food was all gone; even the bit between his chopsticks. Where did it go?

"Reborn! You took my food!"

"I did no such thing."

"Then who did it?"

"Look around you." Tsuna did. Lambo and Ryohei were getting serious with the eating contest while Yamamoto laughed and cheered them on.

"Oi! Give back my food, you stupid cow!" Gokudera rose from his seat. Lambo was in the middle of scraping Gokudera's food onto his own plate. It turns out that the eating contest only ends when all the food Nana cooked are gone. Gokudera swiftly gave the cow and punch in his hair, which couldn't have hurt that much since Lambo had loads of it.

"Sawada-san! Could I have a third serving!" Ryohei asked in his loud voice.

"Yes, yes! Here you go! It's so nice to see all my cooking being eaten in minutes!" Nana said. Lambo then went on to taking Yamamoto's food. Tsuna blinked. He looked at his own plate carefully and saw the markings of a spoon hastily taking his dinner away when he wasn't looking.

"Lambo! You took my food!"

"Lambo! Give my food back!" Both Gokudera and I-pin yelled. Tsuna's eye twitched. Had Gokudera and I-pin ever say anything together?

"It's no use crying over it," Reborn said. Tsuna glared at him. "Because the Mafia is the number one eat or be eaten world."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

Once his friends left, Tsuna got ready for bed. "Reborn, are we really not going to do anything with the detective?"

"Do you want me to kill him?"

"Eh! No, that's not what I meant."

"Then say what you want and stop beating around the bush, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn sat on his student's bed, looking at him with his onyx eyes.

"I mean... Even though Vongola started as a vigilant group to protect people, Vongola is also part of the Mafia. And the Mafia is _bad_ business." He emphasised on the word 'bad'. "Won't we be in big trouble if they accuse us for being Vongola?"

"Dame-Tsuna, you worry too much for your own good. Just act normal. If you don't do anything that is mafia related, you'll be alright. Besides, compared to other famiglias, we are the good guys." Tsuna sighed.

"I guess—HIIEE!"

"What's the matter now, Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn was sitting in his hammock dressed for bed and looking thoroughly annoyed.

"K-Kyoko-chan's dream is to become an officer... isn't it?" Tsuna's eyes widened like a frightened rabbit. Reborn stared at him for a moment and smirked. "That was her childhood dream. How do you know her dream is the same? Dame-Tsuna, you really worry about the stupidest things. Now don't bother me." Reborn hit Tsuna with a Leon hammer. Tsuna instantly fell onto his bed, unconscious or sleeping, no one knows... except for Reborn.

* * *

><p>Tsuna came to school alone today, since Yamamoto had morning practice and Gokudera was dragged off by his sister who suddenly showed up bright and early. He walked outside the building to enter a side entrance.<p>

_Huh... I'm being followed again... _He thought. _At least he can't enter the school easily. Hibari-san would bite him to death if he sees the detective in the school. _A bullet being shot snapped him out of his thoughts. Thinking that it was Reborn trying to embarrass him again with the Dying Will shot, the brunet quickly leaped back. He was amazed that he was even capable of moving in time. He glanced at the bullet. It was not a Dying Will bullet. Nervously, he looked around him. "Reborn... this isn't funny," he said as his right hand reached into his pants pocket. The shots came again and he instantly turned into Hyper Dying Will Mode, shooting himself five metres off the ground and landed on the wall vertically, looking into the bushes and trees. Nothing moved. Below, the wall was covered with bullet holes. It won't be long before students came to see what was going on. Tsuna escaped this sudden assault by landing on the rooftop. He extinguished his flames and looked down. Sure enough, students in the Nami Middle school uniform were gathered around the area. _Maybe I should have taken a bullet to look at later... Reborn would want that. _Then he winced, for two reasons. One, Hibari appeared to assess the damage, his eyes filled with rage. Students scurried away from him instantly. Two, his right arm was in pain. His rolled up sleeves told him that he didn't escape every bullet; there was one lodged into the arm which was already dripping blood onto the floor. "Damn!" He said out loud. Being in Hyper Dying Will Mode, he quickly and calmly assessed the situation. He ran to the other side of the roof and closed his eyes to listen more intently. Sure enough, he heard Ryohei's loud voice yelling beneath him.

"_BOXING TO THE EXTREME! EXTREME! EXTREME! EXTREME!" _Tsuna activated his flames to go down the building quickly. This part of the school was usually deserted when Ryohei was training so he had no worries of anyone seeing him flying.

"ONII-SAN!" He said when he slammed the door open, holding his wounded arm.

"Good morning, SAWADA! What can I do for you?"

"I got hit by a bullet! Can you heal me?" Tsuna showed him his arm with a week smile and released his Hyper Mode. Ryohei's eyes widened in shock and quickly tore off his boxing gloves and opened his box weapon.

"Sawada! What happened to you! Sit here! Good thing no one is around to the extreme!" Tsuna sat and Ryohei used his sun flames to carefully take out the bullet and heal the wound to the best of his abilities. Tsuna winced. "... Well... I think it's safe to say that someone just tried to assassinate me."

"WHAT!" Tsuna tried to smile. "No one messes with my friends!" Ryohei declared as he examined his handiwork. "I can't heal your entire wound, Sawada—it's too deep." He bandaged it as well.

"Thanks, Onii-san. Do you mind not telling anyone? I don't want them to worry."

"Sawada, you know I won't promise you that! You were almost killed! As your sun guardian, I can't let that happen to you to the _EXTREME!_" Tsuna sighed, "How about just leaving out that I got shot? I'll tell everyone else what happened during lunchtime."

"MHMM! THAT'S FINE BY ME!" The bell rang and Tsuna ran for his class.

"Thanks again, Onii-san!" He ran out with his bag while rolling down his sleeves to avoid any questions of his injury. Gokudera and Yamamoto immediately went to him when he sat down on his chair.

"Tsuna, is something wrong?"

"Juudaime, you seem... out of it today. Did something happen?"

"Ahah! No, nothing, nothing at all, Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto," he said anxiously with his face going pale. Yamamoto and Gokudera looked at each other and blinked.

"Juudaime..." Gokudera looked hesitant to say his next line. "I'm terribly sorry, but I have to say it."

"What is it?"

"Yousuckatlying." He said in one breath without a pause. Tsuna felt a drop of sweat roll down his face. "I'M SORRY FOR SAYING THAT, JUUDAIME!"

"Alright alright... I'll tell you guys during lunch."

"So something _did _happen," Yamamoto said with a frown. Then his face lit up. "Does this mean there's something new to play with involving the Mafia game? Hahah!" The teacher walked in and they went back to their seats.

* * *

><p>Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, and Reborn gathered on the roof and Tsuna told them about the morning incident.<p>

Reborn said, "Dame-Tsuna, let me see the bullet Ryohei picked out of your arm. We might get a clue as to which family it was from."

"Bullet?" Yamamoto and Gokudera echoed. "Juudaime! You were shot! Why didn't you tell us!"

"EEP!" Tsuna said as his secret was so easily revealed. "I-I-I didn't want to worry you too much. Yes, Reborn, I got shot, and Onii-san helped me remove the bullet, but I forgot to take it from the table." Reborn smacked Tsuna's head _hard. _

"TURF-TOP! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS HAPPENED?" Gokudera growled at the older student.

"SAWADA TOLD ME NOT TO TELL!" Then he paused and stuffed his hand into his pocket. "Wait a minute. Is this the bullet we're talking about?" He brought out a small green bullet the size of his thumb.

Reborn leapt onto Ryohei's knee and took the thing that could have easily killed Tsuna. "Humph," was all the hitman said. His fedora hat hid his expression perfectly. "Enjoy the rest of your lunch while you can. We're having another Italian lesson after you all finish your homework and club meetings, if you have any. Meet at Dame-Tsuna's house."

"Wait a minute, Reborn! What about the bullet?" Tsuna asked. Reborn lifted his head.

"Dame-student of mine: make sure you have two guardians with you at all times starting today when you aren't with me." And he left.

"He didn't even answer my question..." Tsuna muttered. He didn't notice Gokudera's shaking fists and lowered head.

"Juudaime! You can count on me to protect you!" He said in a loyal tone.

"Hahah! Yeah, Tsuna! We'll protect you from anything!" Yamamoto laughed.

"YOSH! THIS CALLS FOR MORE EXTREME TRAINING!" Ryohei stood up and began to punch his fists into the air in front of him while walking to the door.

Tsuna groaned and tugged at his drooping brown hair which hasn't been cut for a year—there was never enough time. This is just too much trouble for him to handle. He was sure that the detective would also be watching them from somewhere. Then he winced as his skin twisted and his wound reopened. Careful to not get bloodstains on his uniform, he lifted the sleeve.

"Tsuna! Is that where the bullet hit?" Yamamoto asked when he saw the wrapping. Gokudera couldn't take it anymore. He got on his hands and knees. He continuously hit his forehead against the pavement.

"Juudaime! I'm _very _sorry for not being there when you were attacked!"

"HIIEE! G-Gokudera-kun! It's okay! I've suffered worse than this! It barely hurts! Please get up!" Gokudera shot up from the ground. His boss let out a sigh of relief, for his friend wasn't kneeling on the ground anymore. But his Hyper Intuition told him that this same friend would do something more drastic than bowing to the floor. His intuition was right again.

"Juudaime! We should stay away from open places like the rooftops! You will become an easy target like that! Stay away from windows! And also, don't walk deserted streets! When there are more people walking around you, there's a less chance that they will shoot accurately."

"But Gokudera-kun, we can't have them almost shooting normal civilians, that's too dangerous," Tsuna objected. "We don't know who they are yet. Maybe they're so cold blooded they don't care who they shoot at as long as it hits me as well," he said bitterly. Gokudera had nothing to say to this reply. He knew that Jyuudaime would put others before himself. Yamamoto hung an arm around Gokudera's shoulders and laughed.

"Nothing will happen to Tsuna as long as we're around, right? So don't worry, Gokudera! Let's get to class. I have baseball practice afterschool today, so it's up to you and Senpai to guard him!"

"Of course! And get your damn arm off me!"

* * *

><p>The detective waited just outside the school where no one can see him. Today he was dressed in a hoodie and faded jeans.<p>

(An excerpt from his notes for _Day 3_)

_I have records of observations for Day 2 but I do not remember_

_any of it happening. I woke up on a park bench this morning with_

_a massive headache. _

_Namimori Middle students are now dismissed. Target is_

_spotted with two of his friends, Gokudera Hayato and Sasawaga Ryohei; _

_nothing out of the ordinary._

For once Gokudera and Ryohei were not fighting with each other as they walked home, since both were on the lookout for trouble. Tsuna knew that the detective was following them, but this made him even jumpier than usual. As they walked past the park, Gokudera was convinced that he heard something in the trees and dashed off with dynamites in his hands. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"A-ahhh! Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna panicked. This is definitely not something normal teenagers do.

"Octopus-Head! What do you see?" Ryohei asked. He stayed by Tsuna's side. Gokudera came back out covered with leaves and branches.

"Che! I swear I sensed something in there." He looked back. "Maybe I should toss in one of my dynamites just in case..."

A scream was caught in Tsuna's throat. "Gokudera-kun, no! You might kill some innocent animal!"

"If the Juudaime says so..."

"T-Thanks..." Tsuna said while he, too, surveyed the area. Something didn't feel right...and it wasn't coming from the detective.

* * *

><p>High up in a tree, a woman with black, wavy long hair knelt, not daring to breath. She had a green tattoo the shape of a half moon etched into her left arm. Only when Decimo rounded the corner did she allow herself to take a deep breath.<p>

"That bomber is better than I thought. I'd better be careful around him." She jumped out of the tree and landed in the middle of the road and walked the other way. She'll have another chance to capture them. She passed by a young man who looked her way. She grinned. He wasn't that bad to look at. Too bad she was in a rush. Now, about Vongola Decimo. He was too soft; if he had let the bomber boy throw his dynamite, they might have caught her. The assassin was confident that she won't be injured by the right hand man as long as his boss was near.

* * *

><p>The detective saw a beautiful woman in green jump out of a tree gracefully, like a cat. <em>What was she doing up there? <em>Was his only thought when she walked by. She looked familiar but he couldn't put a finger on where. When she was out of sight, he realised that he was losing the target. He sped up.


	3. WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?

**Chapter Three**

Nori Kenshin had trouble sleeping that night. His bones ached. His head ached. His whole damn _body _ached. But he couldn't remember why. There were no bruises on him whatsoever. But when he _did _sleep, his mind wandered to a distant memory, when he was being briefed about a case he was to be a part of.

_He showed the detective a picture of a woman in her early thirties. She had cat-like brown eyes with high cheekbones. Her face showed no signs of scars or bruises; it was smooth and beautiful to look at. She had a confident smile on her lips as she stared at the camera. Her sleeveless tank top showed a green tattoo on her left arm._

_"Tamiko Mio is a well trained assassin who has killed many important people. She works freelance but mainly for the Luna Family in the Mafia."_

_"Luna?" Kenshin remembered himself asking. "Isn't that moon or something?"_

_"Yes. Each assassin has a tattoo of a certain phase of the moon. To be precise, this woman has the green Waxing Crescent tattoo. She is dangerous. So you'd best watch your back."_

Kenshin sat upright on his bed, wide eyed and shaking. "Tamiko...Mio." He bumped his forehead onto his knees and wrapped his hands around his head. Two years ago, he was looking into a family and his target was killed by her. She didn't see Kenshin, so at the moment, he should be safe. He groaned. "What's she doing here in Namimori? Surely there's no one here she was sent to kill—what... oh dear god... Vongola Juudaime..."

* * *

><p><strong>Sawada Residence, Morning<strong>

Nana woke up early to prepare breakfast. Before doing that, she went outside to check the mail. She found two handwritten letters. One, she recognised immediately and the other was addressed to her son. Nana quickly opened the one she recognised. After reading it twice, she squealed with delight. She was about to go in when a man called out, "Good morning!" She turned around. A man was wearing a simple white t-shirt and shorts with a bright smile on his face. He scratched his short black hair and said, "I just moved here on Sunday."

"Oh, are you the new neighbour? Welcome! I hope you are enjoying Namimori! Are you living alone?" Nana bombarded him with questions just out of curiosity.

"Yes, yes. I'm enjoying Namimori. It's... quite peaceful here," he said. But _was _it really peaceful here? He'd have to find out. "My name is Nori Kenshin but my friends call me Ken. I'm here for my job, and my wife is back in Tokyo." He bowed.

"Ah, welcome, Nori-san. I'm Sawada Nana."

"It's nice to meet you, Sawada-san. I wasn't sure whether I'd find good neighbours here or not." Nana laughed and assured him that everyone here was nice.

"To welcome you to Namimori, would you like to eat dinner with my family? My husband is coming back from his travels and we're going to celebrate!"

Kenshin looked at the lady. Wasn't she even a _bit _suspicious? And she's already inviting him into her home? Odd—very odd woman. She's the mother of the tenth Vongola boss, isn't she? Oh well. This is the best thing that's ever happened so far.

"I don't want to be a bother...ahaha!"

"No, no! It's fine! I'm sure you'll have a good time! It gets really noisy when everyone is home, but that's the fun part. Would you come, please, as an offer from your new, friendly neighbour?"

"Well...when you put it that way I guess I _have _to come," Kenshin said. He couldn't believe his luck. _But wait... when _everyone's _home? There are more than her, her husband, and son? Well, there are three babies... but they live at home. When people say "when everyone's home", that usually means a lot of people live there but are away. Why don't the police have records of more family members than the three?_

"Wonderful! You can come over any time after five. Then you can meet my son and his friends!"

"Right. Thank you!" Their conversation was interrupted by a loud cry.

"MAMA! LAMBO-SAN IS HUNGRY!"

"Ah, I need to go now, Nori-san. See you this afternoon!" Nana left to quickly to finish making breakfast. "Coming, Lambo-kun! Just sit tight!"

* * *

><p>Nori stood there in a daze for twenty minutes. He looked at his watch. It was seven twenty-five now. School starts at eight fifteen. From here to Nami Middle, it takes about fifteen to twenty minutes. That means Sawada Tsunayoshi <em>should <em>be getting up by now. He looked at the house.

BOOM! Kenshin took a step back, shocked. He looked around, wondering where that came from. A scream came next and

BANG BANG BANG!

"What in the seven hells...?" He distinctively heard loud screams and yelling coming from the Sawada household. Crying came next, in the form of loud screams and wails. Then—

BOOOM! Pink-grey smoke erupted from the open window on the second floor.

—and silence. Total silence. He sweatdropped and slowly walked into his own house, eyeing his neighbour across from him.

* * *

><p>"MAMA! LAMBO-SAN IS HUNGRY!"<p>

"Coming, Lambo-kun! Just sit tight!" Obviously, he didn't. He ran around, tugging at I-pin's braid and letting go.

"Lambo! That isn't nice!" I-pin in turn chased after Lambo and tackled him when they reached upstairs in Tsuna's room.

"Ahh! Get off me! No one catches the Great Lambo!" They rolled to Tsuna's writing table and knocked some papers to the floor. Tsuna had learned his lesson and didn't dare put his garbage bin anywhere near his desk. The last time happened, a whole stream of misunderstandings followed.

"Stupid kid," Reborn muttered. He was already awake, sitting on his student's back, ready to wake him up with torture, since the alarm clock didn't seem to work. Leon transformed into a green hammer with the label of one tonne. He jumped into the air and slammed the hammer into Tsuna's right side.

"Gaa!" The impact caused Tsuna to be flung off his bed and onto his front, on top of an unlucky Lambo. He was still half asleep, only groaning and muttering to himself while Lambo tried to get away from under Tsuna. "Baka Tsuna! Get of me!" Lambo screamed.

"Tsk. It's getting harder and harder to wake him up with the hammer." Leon became Reborn's gun and fired three shots; two real, one fake. One right above Tsuna's head, another millimetres away from his right ear (and the bullet stuck to the floor), and the third one at Lambo who finally crawled out.

"AHH! WHAT'S GOING ON? Is someone invading the base?" Tsuna panicked. He was having a dream of the Vongola base in the future and they were having a full scale party.

"Dame-Tsuna. It's time to wake up and get ready for school," Reborn said over the noise of the blaring alarm clock, Lambo's screaming, and Tsuna trying to calm him down.

"Lambo! Are you okay?" I-pin asked.

"Gotta...stay...calm...WHHAAAAH!" He started to pull out three grenades.

"Lambo! Get a hold of yourself!" Tsuna yelled. "Reborn! What happened to him?"

"You squished him when you fell off your bed," Reborn said flatly, leaving out the fact that he also shot him with a practice bullet (which hurts just as much).

"Baka Tsuna! Baka Reborn!" Lambo screamed. Four seconds after the grenades fell onto the floor, he took out the ten-year bazooka.

"GAAAAAH! LAMBO DON'T DO THAT!" Tsuna screamed. But Lambo threw it nonetheless. It landed on him and I-pin. Pink smoke filled Tsuna's room, which has become a daily thing. The grenades going off were a bonus.

"Ole ole," Adult Lambo said. I-pin was on the floor with a book and a pair of glasses on her nose. "Looks like I was shot with the bazooka again. YAWN." He was dressed in cow-print pyjamas. Tsuna turned off his alarm clock.

"Good morning, Lambo and I-pin," Tsuna greeted. He sighed, because there was finally some peace and quiet, although it will only last for five minutes.

"Morning, Young Vongola."

_"Good morning, Sawada-san!" _I-pin said in Italian.

"HIIE! Why are you speaking in Italian?"

"Oh, that! Sawada-san asked me to learn Italian two weeks ago. I'm practicing right now."

"Ehhh! I told you to learn _Italian? _Why on earth would I do that?" I-pin shrugged.

"You also told Lambo to learn, but he's slacking off."

"Gaak! I-pin! I'm not slacking off!" Lambo said. He looked at Tsuna with a scared expression. "Young Vongola! I swear that I'm not slacking off!" He whispered to I-pin, "Don't just go around saying that! What if Bakadera hears you!"

_Why do they need to learn Italian? _Tsuna thought. Then he remembered the last time they time traveled.

"Ah! Lambo! What happened to the battle?" Tsuna asked. Lambo seemed glad for the change of topic.

"We won, of course! Easy as pie! Although I'm afraid for their sanity," he said with a grim smile.

"...What do you mean?"

"Pineapple-Head messed with their minds. Right now, they are probably still seeing things that aren't real, like monsters under their beds, bloody rooms and ghosts—a whole lot of other gruesome things. Right now, Vongola is trying to convince Pineapple-Head to stop playing with their minds."

"HIIE! I'm so dead. I don't think I can ever convince Mukuro to do anything!" Tsuna said.

"Well, we should be heading back now, Young Vongola. It was good seeing you again. Oh, and don't let my younger self pull I-pin's braid again! I got a bad beating from her because of that...it happened in the morning, that's what I remember. It's probably the worst beating I ever got."

"Lambo, I think you already pulled I-pin's braid—!" They disappeared to be replaced by the Lambo and I-pin of this time.

"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said.

"What?"

"It's seven thirty."

"So?" Tsuna said. Then he said, "HIIE! I'M GOING TO BE LATE!"

He quickly got dressed in his white dress shirt and blue vest but his clumsiness made him trip when his pants were half way up. He toppled back to the ground.

"Awe, why do I have to be such a klutz?" He was finally ready and splashed some water on his face and tried another attempt to comb his hair. He found that it was growing longer, and the once gravity defying hair, _wasn't _as defying as it used to be! He was kicked on the head.

"Stop admiring yourself and eat your breakfast before it's gone like last night's dinner!"

"Aah!" He raced downstairs with Lambo. At the mention of food, he had quickly stopped fighting with I-pin and ran after Tsuna.

In the kitchen, he sat down and ate his omelette with gusto.

"Ah, Tsu-kun! We have a new neighbour!" Her son practically choked. He coughed long and hard when he heard what his mother said. Not only that, but, "I also invited him over for dinner today!"

"WHAT!" He screamed as another coughing fit took over him. He gulped down half his glass of water.

"Eh? Is something the matter, Tsu-kun?"

"Ah—no, you just surprised me. So uh... where does this new neighbour live?"

"Right across from us."

"PFFT!" The water still in Tsuna's mouth was spit back out. This was _not _his lucky day. "Your dad is also coming back for a visit! He should be arriving this afternoon."

"Ahh!" Tsuna squeaked. "U-Um, kaa-san! Since we're going to have a...feast tonight, with the extra guest and all...could I also bring my friends over?" He asked nervously. He'd feel better to know that they had a lot of eyes watching the detective's every move.

His mom squealed. "Yes, of course you can! Well let's see, that would include you boys, Fuuta-kun, Bianchi-chan, Basil-kun, and your two girlfriends!" Tsuna twitched. "Kyoko-chan and Haru aren't my girlfriends, mom..."

"You also got a letter, Tsu-kun!" Nana said, ignoring Tsuna's comment.

"A letter?" he reached over Lambo and I-pin to take the letter from his mother.

"Dame-Tsuna, you'll have to read that on the way to school. It's seven forty-six," Reborn warned.

"HIIE! Gotta go mom! See you later!"

"Bye Tsu-kun!"

Reborn hopped onto the brunet's shoulder as they left the house at a quick pace. Tsuna read the words on the envelope while walking.

_To Sawada Tsunayoshi_

(Address goes here)

_From Kozato Enma_

"It's from Enma-kun!" Tsuna said with a grin.

"Well, open it," Reborn said. Even he was a little curious to see what Enma wrote about.

_Hello, Tsuna-kun and Guardians!_

_ I hope that you are all doing well. I haven't had a chance to write to you ever since we came back to our town 'cause things are pretty hectic. We have decided to look after the people here. Although there are no Mafia gangs in the area, there are still a bunch of bullies and the Yakuza to keep us busy. Every day, a few of us go "patrolling" and find a lot of people being bullied. We help them out, but because we're doing that we have made a lot of new enemies. There has been more vandalism of property and riots caused by the bunch. We have started to teach those who can't fight, to fight, so they can defend themselves when we aren't around. Soon, I believe, we will be rid of most, if not all, the bullies and gangs. How are you doing, Tsuna-kun? Is everything alright in Namimori? _

_From your good friend and family, _

_Enma_

"Ehhh! So they officially became a vigilant group like how the Vongola was back in Primo's days!" Tsuna laughed as he ran. Reborn had disappeared from his shoulder. The brunet was confused but understood why immediately when he looked up. He crashed head-on into a telephone pole.

"Ow..." Reborn jumped back onto Tsuna's shoulder.

"Let's get going. You can share the news with your guardians at school. You'll get a chance to write back to Enma after our Italian lesson."

"Yeah, yeah," Tsuna said as he put the letter into his bag. He ran on, tripping now and then, narrowly missing a baby stroller and a parking car. He sprinted at full speed when he saw that the gates were closing.

"WAAAIT!" He yelled. "Don't close it yet!" The person closing it turned around and Tsuna gulped.

"I'll bite you to death for being late," Hibari threatened as his hands went for his tonfas. He took this opportunity to race into the school. Reborn left him and landed on the wall.

"I'M SORRY HIBARI-SAAAN!" Tsuna cried tearfully, fearing for his life. Hibari grunted.

"He's going to pay for that."

"Ciaossu, Hibari," Reborn said. Hibari looked at him.

"Baby. Let's fight." Reborn smirked and said, "You'll get to fight Dame-Tsuna for his punishment on Saturday. Let's leave it at that. Ciao ciao!" Leon turned into a hot-air balloon and he flew off.

* * *

><p><em>Day 4: Wednesday<em>

_07:00_

_Sawada Nana comes out for the mail and jumps in delight. Her husband is _

_coming back from his travels, which means that he isn't always home. I had a conversation _

_with her and she invited me over for dinner. This will allow me to go closer to the target_

_and possibly place surveillance around their home._

_07:20_

_The Sawada Residence shakes. There are no signs of explosions although _

_I hear plenty of loud noises. Some even sound like bombs. Three gun shots _

_were heard, but they could be cap guns. There's also plenty of screaming and _

_crying. What is going on in there?_

_08:13_

_Target reaches school just before the gates close. Black baby has followed him _

_again. Hibari Kyoya appears to be talking to the baby. _

_No sign of Tamiko Mio but that doesn't mean she isn't nearby. _

* * *

><p><strong>Lunchtime, in the Classroom <strong>(Gokudera insists)

"I got a letter from Enma-kun this morning," Tsuna told his present guardians and Kyoko.

"Ah, do you mean Enma-kun and his other friends who were with us during the earthquake at their hometown?" Kyoko asked.

"Yeah," Tsuna said. He was still smiling brightly because of the letter. This was his first time getting one from a friend.

"...Tsuna-kun," Kyoko said. "Is Enma-kun part of...the Mafia?" She asked quietly. Everyone including Ryohei looked at Tsuna for the answer.

_Kyoko-chan already knows that we're in the Mafia. There's no point in denying it any further, _Tsuna thought sadly. _She also saw fifteen of us get off the ship covered in scratches and bruises...not to mention dirty shirts and torn pants. Sigh..._

"Yes, Kyoko-chan, Enma and his friends...are." They kept their voices low so other classmates wouldn't hear their conversation. There were many fan girls looking their way—at Gokudera and Yamamoto, so it might have been possible that they can hear them if they spoke too loudly. Kyoko nodded and smiled slightly. She was still worried for them.

"Well, let's hear the letter, Tsuna!" Yamamoto said. He read them the letter, not leaving out anything. They were impressed that they thought of the idea to train the weak and helpless into strong people.

"SAWADA! WE CAN'T LOSE TO THEM! WE'LL DO THE SAME IN NAMIMORI TO THE _EXTREME!"_

"Baka!" Gokudera yelled. "We can't do that now! Not while Juudaime is being—!"

"_SHHH!" _Yamamoto and Ryohei stopped Gokudera from yelling out to the world just in time. Gokudera realised his mistake and his cheeks flushed. Kyoko _knew _that something was wrong now. Hana came over to them, curious.

"Why are you always so loud?" She complained.

"Being loud is good!" Ryohei yelled, but they noticed that his volume has decreased drastically as well as a slight flush on his cheeks.

"Anyways, Kyoko and I need to go see sensei."

"O-Oh, okay," Kyoko said. She still wanted to know what happened to Tsuna but she followed Hana out of the classroom. Tsuna let out a breath. "Haah! I have to thank Hana one day!" He said.

"Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?" Gokudera asked them in a low voice. He glared at the girls who looked their way. As if it were rehearsed, they squealed as one.

"No," Ryohei and Yamamoto said.

"Ah!" Tsuna gasped.

"What's the matter, Juudaime/Tsuna/SAWADA?"

"Our new "neighbour" is coming over for dinner tonight!" Tsuna groaned. "And so is my dad. Reborn must have told him what's going on here!"

"Don't worry, Juudaime! If that detective does anything, I'll beat him up!"

"N-No, Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna said. "I want you to do the exact opposite!" The boss has never really _told _Gokudera to do something before. Usually, he just asks him, but to Gokudera, this sounded like an order. He gulped. "Yes...Juudaime." Yamamoto laughed and Tsuna remembered another important detail.

"Gokudera-kun, if you can, could you hide your dynamites for the night? It's going to be hard already when we try to explain about Bianchi's cooking and Lambo's grenades. Let's just hope that he doesn't suddenly turn into Adult Lambo."

"W-Wait a minute, Sawada. Are we _all _going to your house for dinner? Is it an _extreme _party?" Ryohei asked.

"Oh, I forgot to ask you. Do you all want to come over? Since my dad's coming home, it's going to be like a big party...kaa-san also wants the girls to come over...and yeah..."

"Sure, Tsuna! We'll come! I'll even ask my dad to make some sushi for us!"

"Waaahh! Thank you, Yamamoto! Your dad makes the best sushi in Japan!" Yamamoto laughed and scratched his head.

"Awe, that's exaggerating..."

Gokudera's brow twitched. "Juudaime! I won't fail you tonight!" He declared.

"Mmm!" Tsuna said with a sharp nod. He wanted to believe that Gokudera will remember his promise, even with Lambo running around and all.

* * *

><p><strong>Kokuyo Land, same time<strong>

"Arcobaleno, it's nice to see you again."

"Same here."

"So do you need something?"

"..."

"I heard that the Vongola is growing...a tail. Kufufuffu. Do you want me to confuse the detective?"

"What are you talking about, Mukuro?" Reborn asked. "That won't be fun."

"Kufuffufu. I have to agree with you. So, what _are_ you here for?" Mukuro asked. Chrome, Ken, and Chikusa were present. Reborn smirked.

"Dame-Tsuna's house is hosting a party tonight. The other guardians might not want you to come, but knowing Tsuna, he won't feel good if Chrome and her friends aren't included."

"Ah. That naive Vongola. Isn't he afraid that I might possess him?" Reborn cocked his gun.

"If you do such a thing, Mukuro," the fedora hat hid his expression, "you won't live to see the sun rise."

"Kufufufu."

"Oi! Don't you go threatening Mukuro-sama!" Ken yelled.

"Ken, You're too loud," Chikusa said in a toneless voice. Chrome just stayed by Mukuro's side.

"Shut up! And why is the ugly girl still here!" Ken growled. Chrome flinched and clutched onto Mukuro's sleeve.

"Kufuffu. Nagi can stay if she wishes to. And Ken, I don't appreciate you calling her ugly, when she is so cute." He gave Ken a cold, stern look

Ken grunted. "Sor_ry_ then."

"Anyways, back to the topic," Reborn said, lifting his head. It might have been their imagination, but they saw happiness in his eyes. "There will be a lot of _food_ since there are a lot of people going. Of course, there are many _opponents _you can fight with once we're there."

"Ahh! The food part sounds interesting! Mukuro-sama! Can we please go?"

"Kufufuffu. I like the sound of fighting. Yes. Let's go." Reborn smirked.

"You can come over anytime after three. By then there will probably be plenty of people preparing for the party."

Little did Reborn know, that at the same time, his student was telling as many people as he could, to _not start a fight..._

* * *

><p><strong>Afterschool, Disciplinary Committee Office<strong>

Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, and Kyoko stood outside Hibari's gate of death.

"I hope we won't be disturbing him," their boss said.

"Go for it, Tsuna!" Yamamoto and Ryohei cheered. Gokudera looked at Tsuna with an encouraging smile. "You can do it, Juudaime!" Tsuna nodded, a little embarrassed that he needed so many people to back him up. He took in a deep breath that may be his last, and slid the door open. Hibari sat at his desk, looking at him. The folders were piled neatly to one side, all the work completed.

"What do you herbivores want?" He demanded coolly. Tsuna slowly stepped in and closed the door behind him. He had no idea why he closed it, because that stopped him from a quick getaway if things got rough.

"Hibari-san, I'm having a party today after school. Would you like to...come?" Tsuna knew the minute he said that, what Hibari's answer would be. _I should have worded it differently! Now he'll definitely refuse! _He mentally kicked himself.

Hibari looked at him, mildly impressed. The herbivore actually came in and asked him to go to a party, without stuttering. That's some big improvement. Maybe he wasn't herbivore after all, eh?

"I hate crowds," Hibari answered. _Hn. _Now _what will he do?_

Tsuna gulped. He was afraid of this. _Do I really have to say it? _He pleaded with himself. Then he had a flashback.

_"Dame-Tsuna, if all your guardians aren't present, you'll have to make up for it by fighting Hibari this Saturday," _someone told Tsuna.

Tsuna took another deep breath to steady himself. "Mukuro will be there," he said. That wasn't an entire lie, since he was planning on going to Kokuyo Land after this. _Oh no! What if Mukuro doesn't come? This will be a big risk!"_

"...come." Tsuna snapped out of his trance.

"What?" He almost slapped himself for sounding so rude in front of Hibari, who glared at him for making him repeat himself.

"I said...I'll come." Tsuna's mouth dropped open.

"E-Eh, well, okay! You can come anytime! See you there!" Tsuna quickly turned around and was about to open the door.

"Omnivore." Tsuna thought he heard wrong. He turned his head and looked at Hibari.

"Y-yes?" He asked, not sure if he had become an omnivore in Hibari's eyes.

"If he doesn't show up, I'll bite you to death."

"Yeah...! Okay!" Tsuna managed to gasp out. He opened the door and shut it before his legs gave way.

"What a relief!" He said as he _melted _onto the floor.

"What happened, Juudaime!"

"He's coming," his boss said as they walked through the hall.

"Juudaime! We knew you could do it!"

"Actually, Tsuna, how _did _you do it?" Yamamoto laughed.

"Well... I sort of told him that Mukuro would be there. Now we have to go to Kokuyo Land to confirm this. And if he doesn't show up I'll be bitten to death."

"I won't let him touch a single strand of your hair, Juudaime!"

* * *

><p>They walked out the building. Again, Gokudera, Ryohei, and Yamamoto semi surrounded Tsuna as well as Kyoko, without her really realising it. Gokudera stood to Tsuna's right, Yamamoto to his left, and Ryohei rounding up the rear slightly behind his dear sister. This time, there was some conversation.<p>

"Tsuna-kun, what happened to your arm?" Kyoko asked. Tsuna's head snapped to attention. He felt sweat gather at his forehead.

"M-My...arm? What are you talking about?"

"I saw you holding it today. Your eyes told me that it was hurting badly," she said worriedly. Tsuna again, mentally kicked himself. How did he manage to let her see him like that? He thought he hid it pretty well. From the looks he got from his guardians, he did... but Kyoko somehow saw through it.

"Tsuna, you're arm's hurting?" _Again? _They all thought.

"Ah... yeah. I hurt it yesterday, that's all," he explained to a concerned Kyoko. _His sleeves are rolled down again, _she thought. _He doesn't do that often. Sorry, Tsuna-kun! _She said silently as she grabbed his arm. He stopped, surprised. His face began to turn a deep shade of red. Kyoko gently lifted the sleeve and there were the strips of bandages which were slightly damp.

"Tsuna-kun! This doesn't look like a scratch!" Kyoko scowled and bowed quickly. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done that, but it's true!"

"Sawada! Looks like you need another healing!" Ryohei said.

"Erm. I guess I'll have you do that when we get home... thanks, Onii-san," Tsuna said. He looked at Kyoko.

"It's alright, Kyoko. It's not actually that serious. Reborn just forced me to bandage it," he said. They continued walking.

"When do you think Hibari will come?" Yamamoto said.

"He'll come when the party starts." They turned around saw Reborn. "_Hup!_" He landed on Yamamoto's shoulder. "Yo, kid!"

"I already told the Kokuyo Gang about the party. They will be attending."

"You told them _what!" _Tsuna exclaimed. Reborn took out his gun.

"Respect your tutor!" He ordered.

"HIIE! I'M SORRY! DON'T SHOOT! DON'T SHOOT!"

"Tsuna-saan!" Haru crashed into the unprepared Tsuna. Both of them fell to the ground.

"HIIIIE! H-Haru?" He shimmied away from her but she held on. "Do you mind getting off me?" He shrieked. He looked at Kyoko to see her reaction. She looked shocked and a bit amused.

"Okay!" They continued walking once they dusted themselves off.

_Come to think about it... Hibari-san called me an omnivore... what were they again? They eat both meat _and _plants... So in Hibari-san's point of view, I am both weak and strong? How's that possible?_

The smell of barbeque distracted Tsuna from his thoughts. "Ahhh... That smells so good!" Yamamoto said. Tsuna couldn't help but agree with him.

"We're home!" Tsuna hollered.

"Welcome home!" His parents cried out from different parts of the house. His mother was in the kitchen and his dad was in the backyard.

"Dad's here already?"

"I'm doing the barbeque!" Iemitsu laughed.

"Lambo-san demands that Tsuna plays with me!" Lambo screamed.

"Ahh—not now, Lambo. Later, okay?" Tsuna turned to his friends. "We can put our things in my room, where they most likely wouldn't be trampled over." Once there, Kyoko and Haru said that they'll help Tsuna's mom in preparing the food.

"Now, SAWADA! LET'S LOOK AT THAT!" Tsuna complied and removes the bandages. The wound was still deep, but Ryohei had stopped the bleeding yesterday and it hadn't begun to bleed again yet.

"Juudaime, I think it will heal more quickly if you had stitches," Gokudera observed.

"I don't like stitches!" Tsuna frowned inwardly.

"Don't worry! I'm good at it! Here, I'll do it right now!" Gokudera took out a small first aid kit. "Gokudera-kun! Where'd you get that from?"

"I keep it on me at all times, since I myself get injured a lot."

"Oh..." He reluctantly let Gokudera begin while he kept his eyes shut.

"Lawn-Head! Try to heal it some more before I stitch it up as well as after!" Gokudera ordered.

"YOSH!" With that done, Gokudera began. He felt slight tugging, but it didn't hurt at all.

"Hahaha! Gokudera-kun, you're really good at this!"

Five minutes later, they were done.

"Thanks, Gokudera-kun, Onii-san!" Tsuna said.

"Make sure you don't wet it or move it around too much," Gokudera said, just like how a doctor would.

Ryohei helped him with the bandage. When they were halfway done, the door burst open. Everyone except Reborn jumped in surprise.

"TSUNA! There you all are! I was looking for you!" Iemitsu said. He glanced at Tsuna's arm. "What happened there?"

"Nothing—just a small cut," Tsuna said. Ryohei swiftly finished wrapping it. His dad grunted. "That's not what I see. Anyways, I'm going out to fish for more fish." He grinned, showing all his teeth and no eyes. "You can start eating what's outside. And keep an eye on the kids! They might try to touch the hot ones!" And the door shut again.

"Right..." Tsuna said. Then he looked at his arm. "You know, I think it will be better if we all learn how to fix ourselves up properly instead of relying on Onii-san and his box. We might be in a tight spot where Onii-san can't waste his strength," Tsuna said thoughtfully.

"That's a good idea, Tsuna!" Reborn grinned.

"I can give you all medical classes. It seems like you need them. But I warn you, it will be tough." Surprisingly, Tsuna didn't argue.

"I'M HUNGRY TO THE EXTREME AFTER HELPING SAWADA!" Ryohei roared.

"Wait a moment, Ryohei," Reborn said.

"What's the matter?" Tsuna asked.

"We probably won't have enough time to have our language lessons after the party, since it might go on forever." Tsuna silently did a happy dance in his head.

"So instead, we'll do a mini one now instead." Reborn smirked when he saw his student's down casted face. "Try to translate whatever you're saying in Japanese into Italian. Ryohei and Yamamoto can go downstairs and start that, with Gokudera as their guide."

"Hold on, Reborn-san...me?" Reborn looked at Gokudera sharply. "Just translate whatever they ask. Don't you go all theoretical with them because they won't understand a single word." Gokudera nodded. "Dame-Tsuna will stay here and write a letter to Enma in Italian instead."

"HIIIEEE!"

"Good luck, Sawada!"

The guardians made their way downstairs.

"OCTOPUS HEAD! HOW DO SAY EXTREME IN ITALIAN?" Ryohei roared. Tsuna heard Gokudera groan, but answer the question.

"How about baseball?" Their voices became fainter and Tsuna felt as though they were leaving him behind with Death himself.

"Dame-Tsuna, hurry up or else I'll shoot you. Get a piece of paper and pencil as a start."

"Reborn, I can barely speak English, so how do you expect me to speak Italian?"

"It's in your blood. Primo was Italian."

"Blood has nothing to do with it. That's won't help me, since Primo didn't send me anything Italian in my dreams or whatnot." Reborn kicked him behind the head.

"OW!"

"Start writing!" Tsuna sighed and began with a greeting he knew. He stopped before writing a single word, though.

"Reborn... is Ciaossu really Italian?"

"Of course it is." Tsuna was unconvinced. "But...ossu is Japanese isn't it...?"

"If you know that, then start writing! And don't you dare take my signature greeting. Ciao is the proper way to greet someone. I combined it with the Japanese version and this creates Ciaossu."

"Oh..."

"Dame-Tsuna..." Reborn warned.

"HIIE! Okay, okay!" He began to write.

_Ciao, Enma-kun and Guardians,_

_ Reborn is forced I to write in Italian, so there will be mistake all over. _

_It is good that you starts a vigilant group there. Onii-san also want to start one, but we not can do that yet because of a problem I have right now. Actually, we have two troubles. _

_WHACK!_

"Reborn, that hurts!" Tsuna yelled.

"You already have a million grammar mistakes! Start over!" Reborn put the letter Tsuna wrote into a Leon paper shredder. Tsuna looked at the shredded paper in dismay. Since he couldn't do anything about it, he took out another piece of paper and started again. This time, Reborn pointed out what he did wrong.

"Tsuna, you weren't complaining when I told you guys that you'll be having medical classes, which will be like hell," Reborn said. "Why?"

"Reborn, you said that they were medical classes, right?" Tsuna paused his writing and looked at Reborn. "I want everyone to have at least a bit of medical knowledge to help them when doctors aren't around. Even a little can save lives."

"A typical Tsuna answer," Reborn said quietly with a smile that was neither sarcastic nor evil.

"Eh?"

"Nevermind. Continue."

Reborn shredded eight more letters before it was perfect. Tsuna was exhausted by now and fell asleep on the desk. Reborn took the letter and read it. There were some facts that Enma would be better off knowing about that weren't on the letter. He took the pen and added his own to the back in the secret writing format Giotto and Cozart invented, which only the boss and most trusted friends of both famiglias knew about. This reminded Reborn that Tsuna had another language he had to master perfectly. When he can write it without hesitation, they will be able to _speak _it, if their tongues can take on all the strange syllables.

_Ciao, Enma-kun and Guardians,_

_ Reborn is forcing me to write in Italian, so there might be a few mistakes. _

_It's good that you started a vigilant group in your town! Brother also wants to start one in Namimori, but we can't do that yet because of a problem we have right now. Actually, we have two big problems. One, there is a detective. He hasn't done anything yet, but my mother actually invited him over for dinner today! Not only that, my father has come home. This means that we'll be feasting tonight. Reborn even invited Mukuro. Hibari-san is also coming, which means a fight will most likely break out, although it's better if there wasn't one, because the detective will become more suspicious. Yesterday, Reborn interrogated the man in an interrogation room I didn't know we owned! Damn that Reborn. _(- Reborn let that slide after beating Tsuna into the colours of the rainbow) _Then he shot the detective with a Memory Loss Bullet so he won't remember any of that happening. Oh, this is such a mess._

_ The second problem is that a mafia famiglia tried to assassinate me. I was lucky and got away with one bullet—the wound is healing nicely, thanks to Brother and Gokudera-kun. I don't know anything about the bullet or family who sent it, because Reborn won't talk. Combined with these two problems, we'll be really busy. I didn't want you to worry about this, but Reborn insisted on writing it. I know that you have to deal with the gangs and all. We can deal with this on our own. I'll tell you what happens later, Enma-kun. Say hi to everyone for me._

_ Sincerely, _

_ Tsuna_

_P.S: Lambo told me to tell you that the next time you come visit, bring some candy from your home town. I swear that kid loves candy too much!_

Reborn flipped the letter over and began to write in Vongomon Script ont he other side.

**_-Giotto-_**

**_Ciao, Enma. This is Reborn speaking. I know that you understand Vongomon Script, so it will be futile to avoid reading it. Tsuna hasn't learnt this yet and I have some information about the enemy family he doesn't know of. _**

**_They are called the Luna Famiglia, a deadly family made out of second rate assassins. The Varia is just a bit better than them. The bullet they used is a dangerous one. It heals much slower than normal wounds, even if it is just a scratch. It also makes the skin around it feel like it's burning as long as it isn't healed completely. If it did hit any vital points instead of his arm, he might not even be able to move anymore. Actually, I'm quite surprised that Tsuna hasn't begun whining about the pain the arm is giving him. Now back to the family: their reason for assassinating Tsuna is quite simple; he is the Vongola Decimo, rumoured to be on par with Vongola Primo, the strongest boss of them all. By taking out Decimo, the next generation of the Vongola will either be very weak, or evil, according on who the next heir would be. Xanxus might force himself to the throne or worse. If they plan on making us weak, they might be thinking of taking over. None of the Vongola History books have a record of a serious battle with the Luna Family, so it might not be for revenge unless it was something else, like the misunderstanding between Vongola and Shimon. I suspect that the assassin assigned for this mission is Tamiko Mio. Surely you have heard of her. You have an entire library back at "home" based on Shimon history. _**

**_About the detective: There's nothing to worry about because though they don't know it, we're having fun. I feel _****really _sorry that you have to miss it, Shimon Family._**

**_-Cozart-_**

Reborn looked at the last line and smirked. If Adelheid saw this letter, they'd definitely come.

* * *

><p>Erm. I'm guessing you might be wondering why there's Giotto and Cozart's names at the beginningending of the Vongomon Script. I wanted those two names to be the mark of where it starts and finishes, depending on who writes the letter.

Example: if Vongola is writing to Shimon, the beginning would be "-Giotto-", with "-Cozart-" as the end point, because it's Shimon who is receiving the letter. Then, if the Shimon Family is writing to the Vongola family, it would be vise versa. =]

And it's not -Tsuna- and -Enma- because I'm guessing it's better to respect the inventors of the script! =D

I hope you enjoyed reading!


	4. Bugs at the Party

**Chapter Four**

Tsuna woke up slowly and lifted his head. The first thing he saw was his wooden desktop. This made his eyes widen.

"_Reborn!__" _He screamed. Reborn jumped on his head, jarring his student's chin onto the table. "Where's my letter!"

"I sent it." Reborn said.

"You...sent it?" This was sounding suspicious. "Just like that? You didn't need me to grovel on your foot and beg you until my voice stops working?"

"Maybe I should have done that. Wait right here, Tsuna, I'll get the letter back so you can do that, especially when I used the express bird to do it." Reborn turned to go.

"HIIIE! Never mind! Never mind! You're a very kind and helpful tutor who will save his student in a crisis!" Tsuna said quickly trying to catch Reborn as he crashed onto the floor. Reborn stepped just out of his reach and smirked.

"That sounds better. Now let's go downstairs. I'm hungry."

"Eh? How long did I sleep for?"

"Half an hour."

"Half an hour? That's... long."

"You should have had enough sleep last night." Tsuna opened his door and was met with loud music and screams coming from Lambo.

"Bakadera! You're mean!" Gokudera sputtered something out in Italian that sounded like a growl. Gokudera must have been answering a lot of Yamamoto and Ryohei's questions in Italian, if he's forgotten to revert back to Japanese. Yamamoto laughed.

"What did you say, Octopus-Head? THAT WAS EXTREME TALKING!"

Tsuna looked into the living room to find everyone crowding except for Hibari who was looking for Mukuro.

"HIIE!" Gokudera looked up and smiled.

"_Decimo! You hungry?" _

"Uh..." said Tsuna, his mind blank. He felt Reborn's gun against his temple. _Um! __Decimo, __that__'__s __me...__and __um...you...you __what?_

"Three..." Reborn said, the trigger pulling back a bit. Tsuna freaked out.

"Two..." The trigger went back a little more...

"Uhm.. AHH!"

BAM! All his clothing except for his boxers got torn off. _If __only __I __knew __more __Italian... _Tsuna thought.

"RE..._BORRRN! _I WILL LEARN ITALIAN WITH MY DYING WILL! ARRRGG!" Tsuna revived from the dead, regretting that he didn't pay more attention to Reborn's lessons. If he did, he could have answered Gokudera's question. He then ran back to his room and opened one of the lesson books Reborn had them finish by tomorrow. Gokudera followed, curious. When he opened the door, he saw his Juudaime working through the booklet, looking to Reborn for answers now and then. He heard Italian being spoken and words being written.

"_You __can __do __it, __Decimo!__" _Gokudera cheered, not yet remembering only him, Reborn, Bianchi, and Iemitsu understood Italian fluently enough to answer him. Then he quietly closed the door.

* * *

><p>Downstairs, they were all preparing decorations for the party and testing the music.<p>

"_TURN __THE __MUSIC __DOWN __YOU __IDIOT!__" _Gokudera yelled. No one paid him any attention. The he smacked his face with his head. "Turn down the music!" He said in Japanese. Yamamoto immediately did so.

"OI, I WAS ENJOYING THAT _TO __THE __EXTREME!__" _Ryohei argued, half in Italian.

"The party didn't even start yet, Lawn-Head!" Gokudera yelled back.

"Hahaha! Now, now, just help decorate! Mukuro and his friends should be arriving in ten minutes!" Yamamoto said with a big grin. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Che." Gokudera went to open the door with a scowl on his face. "You're an hour early," he said.

The Kokuyo Gang has arrived.

"Kufufufu. So this is Vongola Decimo's home." His blue-purple head looked around.

"Kind of small," Ken snorted. M.M scowled in return. "Are you going to let us in or not?" She said.

"We brought drinks," Chikusa said gloomily as he raised a bag with two big bottles of soda. Gokudera opened the door wider and let them in grudgingly. He turned back to the door and saw Chrome. She bowed. "Thank you for having us," she said softly. He snorted.

"At least _two_people of your group have manners." Chrome went in, greeted by Kyoko and Haru.

"Gokudera-dono!"

"_Now_ what?" He snapped. Outside, he saw Basil and Lancia dressed in summer clothing. They were holding...

"Is that _fish?__" _Gokudera said, his brows knitting together. "That's _a __lot.__"_

"Master has amazing fishing skills! He caught all of these by himself!"

"And... _where_ is he?" Gokudera asked.

"Getting more," Lancia said.

"Whatever. Come on in. You can put the fish by the barbeque set. And don't leave any stains in Juudaime's home!" He warned. Once they were in, he slammed the door shut.

"You're all too early! Juudaime says it starts after four!"

"But Reborn-dono told us to come by three," Basil said.

"I guess it's okay if Reborn-san says so..."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in Tsuna's room, the flame on his forehead evaporated. He stared at the paper.<p>

"_So...__how __is __your __Italian, __Dame-Tsuna?__" _Reborn asked.

"_Better,__" _Tsuna replied in disbelief. He opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish. "Did I just say that?"

"_You __did,__" _Reborn said with a grin. _"__I __should __have __shot __you __in __the __head __earlier.__" _Tsuna laughed.

"_Well, __that__'__s __all __for __today. __From __now __on __I __will __only __speak __Italian __with __you. __If __you __can__'__t __keep __up __then __too __bad.__" _Tsuna's laugh disappeared as he tried to translate whatever Reborn said. It was something along the lines of "speak Italian, you, keep up."

"O...kay..." He said slowly. Looking down, he realised that he was naked.

"_HIIIIEE!__" _Quickly, he dressed himself in a t-shirt with an orange 27 and pants. Only when he was halfway down the steps did he realise that his belt buckle had an X.

"Reborn... you messed up my wardrobe again didn't you?"

"_What are you talking about?"_

"I don't own a belt that has an X." He looked at the baby who was sliding down the handrail.

"_Of __course __you __do.__"_ Tsuna sighed and slipped.

"Ahh!" For the second time this week, he ungracefully fell down the stairs.

"JUUDAIME! Are you alright?" Gokudera rushed over.

"_Gokudera, from now on only speak in Italian with Tsuna unless it's very important, like life threatening."_

"_Y-Yes, __Reborn...__" _Gokudera said. Tsuna was getting up. _"__Decimo! __I __will __help __you __improve __your __Italian __by __speaking __to __you __in __the __language __everyday!__"_

"Eh?" Tsuna asked, rubbing his head. After two minutes, he said, "ah, okay… Thanks."

Reborn kicked him behind the head.

"_You also have to speak Italian, Dame-Tsuna. If I don't hear at least twenty Italian words come out of your mouth every day you're in for extra torture."_

"_Okay, __okay...__" _Tsuna replied with a thick accent. Reborn hit him again.

"_Lose the accent. I can't understand you like that. And the same word doesn't count as two."_

"_...O-k-a-y,__" _Tsuna said more slowly and cautiously.

"Ah! Tsuna-san, there you are!" Haru said happily. She, Kyoko and Chrome were in the kitchen helping his mother, whereas she was teaching the young girls how to make new dishes.

"_Ah, __ciao, __Haru,__" _Tsuna said automatically.

"Hahi? Tsuna-san is speaking in another language?"

"Yeah... Reborn is teaching some of us Italian," he replied.

"Then that mean you and I can go travel to Italy one day, maybe as our honeymoon!"

"HIIIEE! No way!" Tsuna cringed. _If __I __were __going, __I__'__d __rather __go __with __Kyoko-chan! _He thought.

Reborn sighed. _"__You__'__re __such __a __love sick __bird,__" __he__ muttered._

"Huh?"

"_It __was __nothing, __Decimo,__" _Gokudera said with a wave of his hand and a feeble laugh. _But __really, __why __couldn__'__t __that __girl __notice __Juudaime__'__s __love __for __her! __Even __I __saw __it. _Everyone knew about Tsuna's crush was Kyoko—that is, except for her…and her brother. Possibly.

"Yo, Tsuna! Could you help with the banner over here?" Yamamoto asked.

"Uh-Coming!" Reborn looked around the room. Tsuna hasn't noticed the Kokuyo Gang in the corner, who were doing something to the plates. This party is going to have interesting after effects.

"TSUNA!" Lambo screamed. "PICK ME UP! I WANT GRAPE CANDY!"

"_I__'__m __coming...__"_ The doorbell rang just then. While holding onto Lambo, he went to open the door. There stood Bianchi and behind her stood the detective.

"B-Bianchi! A-And?" Bianchi moved aside to show the detective. He smiled.

"Hello! My name is Nori Kenshin, you can call me Ken. Please take care of me from now on."

"Ah... okay..." Tsuna said, surprised. Did the detective remember _nothing?_

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi but everyone calls me Tsuna."

"Are you going to let us in?" Bianchi asked. "And is my dear Hayato here yet?" Gokudera chose just that moment to come out.

"_Decimo, __who__'__s__—" _His face went pale as he fell to the floor muttering, "Aneki..."

"Oh dear, he's sick again?" Bianchi picked him up and strolled towards the living area.

"B-Bianchi! What happened to your goggles? You knew that Gokudera-kun was here!" Tsuna called after her. She twirled the goggles in her hand before putting them on. He turned back to the detective.

"Sorry about that, Nori-san. Gokudera-kun is a bit sick today. Please, come in." He edged away from the door. "Mom! Nori-san is here!"

"Oh, already? You and the boys can keep him company until the party starts!" Nana replied.

"This way," Tsuna said. The detective followed.

The detective placed a small black device inside the rim of a flower pot near the entrance without Tsuna noticing. _Hm. __So __far __so __good, _he thought.

"That's Yamamoto Takeshi," Tsuna introduced. Yamamoto had finished with the banner and was putting decorations on the wall. He was blowing on a balloon. He waved at them.

Kenshin looked at the banner. It read, 'Welcome to Namimori!' and 'Welcome home!' It looked innocent enough. He ignored it.

Tsuna looked at the couch. Gokudera was lying there.

"This is another one of my friends, Gokudera Hayato, a transfer student."

"Where did he transfer from?"

"Eh," Tsuna didn't know whether the detective could relate the two but, "Italy." Kenshin nodded, checking with the files he had of them mentally. Of course, he already knew about Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Ryohei, but not the kids.

"This kid is Lambo." Tsuna gestured to the baby he held. Kenshin stared at the child dressed in cow printed clothes. He had a lot of hair, good for hiding things.

"Tsuna! Who's this stupid man?" He screamed. Kenshin's eye twitched. He patted Lambo's head and dropped in another black device.

"Lambo! You're being mean! Don't call people stupid!" I-pin scolded.

"And that's I-pin. Sorry about the comment. Lambo is rude to everyone." Tsuna laughed. He nervously looked around to make sure Hibari wasn't near.

"Tsuna-san! Who is that?" Haru asked. Kyoko looked past her and smiled her welcome.

"Hi, I'm Nori Kenshin, their new neighbour," he said.

"I'm Miura Haru, Tsuna-san's future wife!"

"You're not! Stop spreading that around!" Tsuna shrieked. He blushed and looked at Kyoko. She didn't seem to mind.

"And I'm Sasawaga Kyoko. You might have met my brother, Ryohei. He's the loudest one here," she giggled.

"ARRGH! WHEN IS THE PARTY STARTING?" Ryohei shouted on cue from outside.

"That's about everyone...EEEP! Mukuro and Chrome are here too?" The brunet looked ready to faint. The group turned around and glared. Chrome bowed. "Thank you for having us, B—Tsuna-sama."

"S-_Sama?__" _Kenshin looked at them. _Mukuro? __Chrome? __Who are __they? __More __Vongola __members?_

"Ken, Chikusa, and M.M as well?" His voice went slightly higher than normal.

"Oi, Vongola! Where's the food!" Ken demanded. _They __know __Tsunayoshi __is __Vongola, _Kenshin thought. _Who _are _they?_

"HIIIE! In the yard! Or the kitchen! It's being prepared, but you can eat something that's ready inside the backyard!" He said in a shaky tone.

"Kufufuf. Hello, Tsunayoshi. It's nice to see you again." He whispered to Ken and Chikusa.

"Yes, Mukuro-sama! We'll go get your snack!" Ken and Chikusa went to the detective. "Come on, mister! Let's get some food! Vongola's mom makes yummy rice balls!" He dragged Kenshin away. Chrome and Mukuro approached their boss. Chrome bowed.

"Sorry, Tsuna-sama. I wanted to call you Boss, but Mukuro-sama told me that might be bad at the moment, so I'll call you Tsuna-sama."

"Kufufufu," Mukuro chuckled. "It looks like my efforts were wasted. Ken has already called Tsunayoshi _Vongola. _And Tsunayoshi here didn't deny it."

"HIIIE! You're right...!"

"Then I'll just call you Boss," Chrome said to Tsuna. He nodded slowly.

"You can just call me Tsuna, Chrome." She shook her head.

"That will be rude." He sighed. _She__'__s __just __like __Gokudera-kun!_

Tsuna looked around. His friend was coming around.

"Ughh... Juudaime..."

"Gokudera-kun! Are you alright now?" He moved towards the sitting teen. Kenshin was back with a small plate with fried fish. He stuck another listening device into the couch.

"Hey!" He flinched, thinking he was caught. "What are you doing so near Juudaime?" Gokudera stood up angrily.

"Ahhh! Gokudera-kun! I'm just showing him around!"

"I'll go with you!"

"I...finished just a while ago..." Tsuna said apologetically.

"I'm back!" Iemitsu shouted.

"That's my dad." Kenshin nodded thoughtfully. This was normal house, a normal family, and normal friends...except for the fact that Gokudera calls Tsuna Juudaime and the weird blond kid calls him Vongola. That blew everything.

"Tsuna!" Reborn came at them from the air and hit the brunet hard on the head.

"Ow!"

"_I told you to speak Italian didn't I?" _

"_But...__" _Tsuna said in the language. Then he paused. _Crap...__I __don__'__t __know __how __to __say __the __whole __thing __in __Italian! __I __guess __I__'__ll __say __it __half-half._" Not _everyone_ understands _it!__"_

"_Then speak it to people who do! I already told Bianchi and Iemitsu about it. Gokudera already knows, and am I missing anyone?"_

"How can a baby speak so well, let alone Italian?" Kenshin said in wonder. He understood Italian, since his investigations were usually done in the European countries, but that wasn't the case right now. "What an odd baby."

"You can just ignore him! He's small for his age! He grew up in Italy, that's how he knows Italian."

"Dame-Tsuna, Ryohei is getting restless. He might ask Nori to join the boxing club if you don't do something soon.

"HIIE! There will be no end to it after that!"

"_Then __get __him __to __help __set __up!__" _Reborn kicked Tsuna off the seat. He fell face first on the carpeted floor. He heard footsteps.

"...Omnivore. Where's that guy?" Hibari glared.

"H-Hibari-san!" Tsuna shot up. _Oh, __no. __He__'__s __going __to __start __a __fight __here? __And __shoot! __Where__'__s __I-pin? _Tsuna panicked. I-pin was thankfully, _not_ in the same room right now. He had to keep her away from Hibari.

Reborn said, "We're having a party." He jumped onto Tsuna's head so that he can whisper into Hibari's ear without Kenshin hearing a word. "Afterwards, we're having a contest. So wait patiently." Hibari grunted and glared at the detective.

"Don't disrupt the peace of Namimori," he took out his tonfas. "Or else I'll bite you to death." He stalked off to a corner in the yard with Hibird trailing after him, singing the Namimori anthem.

Lambo jumped onto Tsuna's leg. "Tsuna! Lambo-san wants more candy!"

"Lambo! I already gave you some didn't I?" Lambo pouted.

"I WANT MORE! BAKA TSUNA'S MEAN!"

"Hey, you stupid cow," Gokudera said as he stood in front of Lambo. "Don't go calling other people stupid! You're stupid enough for all of us!"

"WHAA! Don't insult Lambo the Great!" He cried.

"What—who are you talking about? I just see a crying little kid in a cow suit!"

"You guys should really stop arguing..." Tsuna said. His words were drowned out by their bickering. Lambo tackled Gokudera and farted in his face.

"YOU STUPID COW!" Gokudera threw him onto the floor and stomped off.

Lambo's lips began to quaver. "Gotta...stay...calm...whaaa! I hate you all!" He took out the ten-year bazooka and jumped in.

POOF! Pink smoke filled the air around them. Kenshin thought, _Is __this __pink __smoke __what __I __saw __before? _"Yo, Young Vongola," Adult Lambo said.

"Adult Lambo!" Tsuna said. Lambo sighed.

"What's going on now?" He took in his surroundings and spotted the banner. He raised an eyebrow and turned to the shocked detective.

"HIIIE!" Tsuna realised that he'll have some explaining to do. _How __did __this __teenager __get __here? _Kenshin thought.

"Yo, Tetsu. It's been a while." Lambo waved.

"Who's _Tetsu?__" _Tsuna asked.

"Eh? Oh, right. You just met him." Lambo pointed at the detective. "His name's actually Ken Tetsu."

"_EHH!" _

"Ken Tetsu?" Kenshin said, "That's not me. My name is Nori Kenshin." _How __the __heck __did __he __find __out?_

_This __is __bad, _Tsuna thought. _If __this __goes __on, __we__'__re __going __to__ "__figure __out__" __that __he__'__s __been __lying __to __us. __Then __he__'__ll __know __that __we __know __he__'__s __investigating __us! __This is __so __awkward..._

"So I got the wrong person?" Lambo asked, rubbing his head. "Well, you sure look like him."

"Tsuna," Reborn whispered into his ear. "Get Lambo into the kitchen. I have to ask him some things." He nodded.

"Lambo, let's get something to eat!" Tsuna dragged him into the kitchen.

"Oi, Lambo, who is Ken Tetsu?" Reborn asked once they were out of earshot.

"He's a detective who was investigating the Vongola family about nine or ten years ago. We saved his sorry ass from being killed," Lambo shrugged. "That's all I remember. Then he showed up again a few years ago to talk to Vongola."

"What did we talk about?" Tsuna asked. Lambo shrugged again.

"I don't know. You and Tetsu were in your office for a few hours, then he left and we never saw him again. Obviously, you were planning something but none of the other Guardians saw you talk to him, and I didn't ask."

"Tsk. You're no help," Reborn said.

POOF! Lambo was back.

"I want more pizza!" He screamed.

"P-Pizza?" Tsuna said. "We don't have pizza!"

"Lambo-kun wants pizza?" Tsuna's mother asked.

"Lambo-san wants Italian pizza!" He screamed. Tsuna sighed and walked back to Kenshin.

"Sorry about that."

"Who was that person just now?" Nori asked. He held a pink grenade in his hand. It had dropped out with the bazooka. Tsuna slowly took it back and shoved it into his own pocket.

"Oh, that was Lambo's older brother," Tsuna lied swiftly. "He loves playing silly tricks like switching places with his younger brother." _Man, __whoever __knew __I __could __lie __like __that __when __my __life __depended __on __it, _Tsuna mused. The gun Reborn put against his head turned back into the chameleon.

"Juudaime..." Gokudera said.

"What? HIIIE!" Tsuna turned, and there was I-Pin, clinging onto Gokudera's neck, her Pinzu-Time Bomb activated. Eight... seven...

"Gokudera-kun! _Throw __her __away!__" _Tsuna shrieked. Gokudera plucked I-pin off him. Yamamoto came over.

"Hey, is there anything else you need done before the party starts?" I-pin latched herself onto Yamamoto.

"Hiiie!" Tsuna said again. Five... four... He and Gokudera pushed Yamamoto to the opened sliding door which led outside. Three... two...

"THROW HER OUT!" They screamed. Yamamoto's eyes narrowed. He shook off his friends and threw I-pin out the door. When she was about fifty metres in the air, she blew up. They sighed in relief.

Kenshin's head was spinning. Changing brothers... babies blowing up... kids carrying weapons... what else?

"I think I need to go to the washroom..." he said.

"It's just down the hall," the brunet said. Behind him, Yamamoto was catching the falling I-pin. Kenshin nodded and slowly made his way to the door, wobbling this way and that.

Once inside, he locked the door and seated himself on the toilet cover.

_What __the __hell __just __happened? __Did __I __see __right? __Yamamoto __just __threw __the __girl __out __the __door! __Never __mind. __They __are _not _normal. __I __should __have __realised __that __the __first __day __I __came __to __Namimori. __They__'__re __lunatics! _He sighed. Then his stomach made gurgling sounds.

"Ugh... I probably didn't eat right..." he said. Before he came, he accepted a candy from Bianchi. He didn't want to eat it, but he did, to be polite.

* * *

><p>At five, they finished decorating. The decorated rooms looked stunning. Streamers hung everywhere in the colours of the rainbow. Balloons were strung with different faces drawn on them, and tables had party designs. Everyone helped prepare the food to put on a rectangular table by the wall. They chose what they wanted to eat, and sat down to fill up two tables, and a couch between two single sofas.<p>

I-pin, Lambo, and Fuuta sat on the floor in front of the television. Behind them on the couch were Ryohei, Kyoko, and Haru, all with their party food on their laps. Yamamoto sat on the single seat to Ryohei's left and Bianchi sat on the one to Haru's right. Furthur back sat the rest of the group. The first table sat Kenshin, Reborn, Yamamoto's dad, who had brought sushi, Gokudera, Tsuna, and his parents. The other table sat the Kokuyo Gang—Mukuro, Chrome, M.M, Ken, and Chikusa—Lancia, and Basil. Hibari sat outside alone with his bird, looking around in the air and in the trees. Tsuna's mother had asked him to join them and a third of the people in the party held their breath.

"I hate crowds," was the blunt reply. "And I don't stay in the same room as that...Pineapple-Man unless I'm fighting with him."

"What! Don't you dare call Mukuro-sama Pinapple-Man!" Ken shouted, standing on his chair with a set of teeth in his hand. He had to be dragged down by Chrome and Chikusa. Mukuro's mouth twitched but he did nothing more. Nana smiled and gave the school prefect an assortment of foods on two trays and a smaller tray for Hibird.

"Thank you!" Hibird chirped. "Thank you! Thank you!"

"What a cute bird you are!" Nana cooed.

"Thanks for the meal," Hibari grumbled.

The ones watching the television were the loudest. Ryohei wanted to watch boxing, but Lambo wanted to watch the comedy show. Haru yelled across Kyoko at Ryohei to say he should let Lambo watch what he wants. Yamamoto laughed and tried to calm them down. Fuuta was about to settle the argument with a ranking, but Bianchi quickly convinced him otherwise.

"If you do a star ranking now, Nori will wonder why there's no gravity in the room. We don't want to confuse the detective any more than we need to."

"Hahi! That man is a detective!" Haru whispered.

"Pretend you didn't hear that, alright?" Bianchi told them. "Don't tell him anything about Vongola or the mafia. If he asks, don't try to answer his questions, just say I don't know." They nodded their heads.

"Onii-san, you already do a lot of boxing every day whenever you want to," Kyoko said. "Let Lambo watch the television."

"Okay, fine!" It turns out fine, as the comedian was very funny. They all ended up laughing and enjoying the show.

At Tsuna's table, Iemitsu held a _long _casual conversation with Kenshin. Reborn stopped his student from eating. "What is it _now,_ Reborn? I'm hungry."

"You spoke less than ten Italian words today," Reborn said. He switched to Italian. _"__You __don__'__t __get __to __eat. __Talk __in __Italian __if __you __want __to __eat.__"_

"Oh? Reborn-kun, are you teaching Tsu-kun Italian?" Nana asked.

"Yup. He will need it if he wants to travel to Italy. To help him learn, I asked those who knew how to speak Italian to only talk in Italian, to force Tsuna to understand."

"That's amazing! Good luck, Tsu-kun! Maybe I should learn, too!"

"Y-yeah..." Tsuna said.

"_So, __Dame-Tsuna, __what __are __you __eating __right __now?__" _Reborn asked. Tsuna stared at him.

"Um..."

Kenshin looked at the boy with amusement. He listened to the conversation as he felt around the bottom of the table for a good spot. He decided on the corner. He stuck a bug there and replied to Iemitsu's question. Then they both watched as Tsuna struggled to make a proper sentence.

"_I...am __eating...__" _Tsuna said and trailed off. He glanced at Gokudera for help. He mouthed something to him and tried to pronounce the words.

"_I __am...__eating __my __foot.__" _Tsuna said, unconvinced. Gokudera's head fell to the table muttering apologies under his breath. Iemitsu stifled a laugh. Kenshin choked on his food. Reborn hit Tsuna with a fork.

"You just said that you're eating your foot." Tsuna blinked. Then he laughed at his own folly. Reborn used the same fork to take three of Tsuna's meatballs.

"Last try," Reborn said with a mouthful. "And I told you, lose the accent."

"_I__'__m __hungry!__" _Tsuna said loudly after giving up on saying, "I'm eating Italian spaghetti". Reborn grinned.

"_That __works.__" _He took another meatball and left his student alone. Tsuna gratefully took a large bite and gasped.

"_S-Spicy!__" _He said in Italian. He reached for his glass of juice but Iemitsu snatched it away with an evil grin.

"_What__'__s __the __magic __word, __Tsuna?__" _He asked. Tsuna gasped and stuck his tongue out.

"_Decimo! __You __can __have __my __water!__" _Gokudera picked up his glass of water. Reborn stopped him at gun point.

"_This is training, Gokudera. You aren't allowed to help him."_

"_But Reborn!" _

"_Well, __which __is __it, __Tsuna? __Do __you __want __water?__" _Reborn asked. Tsuna looked at him with sad, pleading eyes.

"_SAWADA!__" _Ryohei said from the couch. "Do your best _TO__THE__EXTREME!__" _He shouted his signature line in Italian.

Tsuna thought of his Italian lessons with Reborn. He was sure that one of them was on greetings and etiquette."

"_P-Please...__" _He began slowly, his hot tongue making his speech slurred, _"__may __I __have __my __drink...__father?__" _Iemitsu beamed.

"You did it, Tsuna! Yeah! _Here __you __go, __son! __You __earned __it!__" _Iemitsu gave Tsuna his juice. He gulped it down like there was no tomorrow.

"Pathetic," Reborn said. "You didn't notice me putting extra hot sauce on your spaghetti?" _You __can __be __easily __poisoned __by __your __enemies __if __you __don__'__t __sharpen __your __senses, _Reborn thought. There was more triaining to be done. The glass came down on the table with a thump and Tsuna hung his head.

"Are you alright, Tsunayoshi-kun?" Kenshin asked with strangled face, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah... thanks." He avoided the spaghetti and moved on to the other things.

Two hours later, everyone had finished eating and was beginning to play their own games or just yelling at each other.

Reborn got their attention. "I have a game I made up just for this occasion! After clearing the tables, we will put them together! Everyone, squish in!" He ordered them to move here and there. Tsuna was squash between his mother and Haru.

"Yay! I get the spot next to Tsuna-san! It must be fate!" Haru hugged his arm furiously. He tried to move her. He sighed when she finally let go. Kyoko sat across from him along with Kenshin, Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Ryohei.

"Everyone pick a number out of the hat." Tsuna looked to the middle of the table. Tsuna's eyes widen. Reborn was sitting on a game show chair on top of a square electronic box. He was out of his black suit and into a clown's costume. With the multicoloured hair and red rubber nose included.

Once everyone had a number, Reborn explained the rules, holding a small device. "Once I press this button, two random numbers will appear on the box beneath in the colours orange and red. It's the same number on all four sides so that everyone can see."

Yamamoto laughed. "This is going to be fun!"

"The one who has the red number has to share a memory they had with the person who has the orange number."

"What's the catch?" Tsuna inquired.

"If you can't think of something you experienced with the person, then the orange number can draw something on your face with face paint. You won't be allowed to take it off until tomorrow."

_That__'__s __not __so __bad..._Tsuna thought.

"So, here we go!" Reborn clicked the button. Four eights appeared on the screens. Then they began to move and shuffle around. Reborn pressed the button again: orange twenty seven and red eighteen.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The numbers do not necessarily match with the characters' numbers you are familiar with. Sorry about that! I tried...**

* * *

><p>"Ho, ho. This is Dame-Tsuna and Hibari. Hibari, what is a memory of Tsuna you have that you believe will never happen again?" Reborn called out loud since Hibari was still sitting outside. They waited in silence. One minute... Two minutes...<p>

Tsuna was sweating.

"The time when he finally showed the signs of a herbivore growing up." Tsuna's brows furrowed. When was that?

"Please explain further," Reborn said. Hibari made no effort to. Then Gokudera punched his right fist into his left palm.

"I remember!"

"Eh?" Tsuna said.

"It was after..." Gokudera stopped. "It was after the Cloud _tournament!_" They all knew what _that_meant, except for Kenshin, Nana, and possibly I-pin. Tsuna had told Kyoko and Haru about their battle with the Varia, and they knew what the Cloud_Battle_ was. Tsuna remembered what happened after that. He was so angry with Xanxus that he said he won't let him become the next Vongola Boss.

"Juudaime said that he wouldn't let the leader of the opposite team _win_the prize! Then Hibari said something about forgiving us for..." His face paled a bit. "...ruining the yard... if it gives the Herbivore... (Sorry, Juudaime! I'm just quoting him!) A chance to grow some fangs," Gokudera finished.

"Kufufufu. Did it really happen that way, Nagi?" Mukuro asked. He didn't remember every detail when he was looking through Chrome's eyes.

"I think so," she replied with a blush.

"Hahi! Tsuna-san is so _cool!__" _Haru said. She began to cling to to Tsuna again.

"That _was _a good memory. Dame-Tsuna began to grow up after that," Reborn approved. Iemitsu was close to tears with pride. Kenshin was confused. He was the total outsider.

"Ano... What do you mean by cloud battle?" He asked innocently.

"It was a game we played a while ago in the form of a tournament. Nothing important, it was so long ago. Let's move on!"

"Not _important?__" _Tsuna yelled. "I almost d—ack!" Reborn hit him with a Leon stone. He pressed the button. The numbers mixed, and the following showed up: orange twenty seven and red thirty-eight.

"Tsuna and Mama!"

"Oh my! It's my turn already?" Tsuna looked at Reborn suspiciously. "My favourite memory with Tsu-kun was the first time he brought home all his friends! And also when he was born! He was such a cute baby I could have eaten him up!"

"K-Kaa-san!"

"Hahaha! I'm joking, Tsu-kun! I would never do that!" Nana hugged her son. "Oh, Tsu-kun! Your hair has gotten so soft! Awe!" She ruffled his hair and gave him a motherly kiss on the cheek.

"Gaah..." Tsuna said. He was red with embarrassment. His mother had just kissed him in front of a good twenty something people!

"That is such a sweet memory, Mama," Reborn said. "Because it was so good, you get a prize!" He presented a slice of cake in front of Nana. "This is the cake the girls made today. Hibari is already eating his outside."

"The prize is the cake!" Ken stood up, alert. "Why didn't you say so earlier, _PYON_?"

"You didn't ask."

"Hurry up and pick me!"

"I don't pick, it's random!" Reborn retorted. He pressed the button again: orange twenty seven, red forty-eight. Tsuna and Gokudera. _How __random __can __it __be __if __I __get __chosen __three __times __in __a __row? _He thought.

"Reborn! You rigged it!" Tsuna accused. Reborn threw a piece of cake at his student's face. The brunet was now covered with cream. Gokudera began to talk the same time.

"My favourite memory with Juudaime was when he accepted me as his—!"

"GOKUDERA-KUN!" Tsuna interrupted. He _knew _that Gokudera was going to say "right-hand man". Gokudera paused and changed his wording. "My best memory with him was when we became _best_ friends!" Tsuna stared, and then smiled brightly. This was the first time Gokudera used that term to describe their relationship.

"Excellent, Gokudera," Reborn said. "Your sister made a special slice for you to enjoy!" Everyone who knew about Bianchi's cooking turned green faced. Yamamoto let out a nervous laugh. Ryohei said, "Eat _TO __THE __EXTREME, __OCTOPUS-HEAD!__" _He said. Only the first word was Japanese. He and Yamamoto had to trick Gokudera into teaching them how to say first octopus, then head, with many other translations in between so Gokudera wouldn't see the connection until it was too late.

"N-No thanks... Reborn-san... Aneki... I'd rather not eat it!"

"Why not, Gokudera-kun? It looks magnificent!" Nana said. They looked at the cake in front of Gokudera and gulped.

"Oh." Tsuna said. It was Bianchi's new technique. The food looks normal, but it was just as poisonous. Kenshin, who sat beside Gokudera, raised an eyebrow. What was wrong with the cake? He leaned over to take a closer look at it. Then he dropped his card number. He excused himself, got off his chair and went under the table to look for it. While doing that, he placed a com inside a ripped seam of Gokudera's blazer which was hanged on the back of the chair. Then he paused and sniffed. _Explosives?_! He came back up with his number in hand. He looked at Gokudera who was force-fed the cake. His face turned into an unnatural shade. His stomach made strange gurgling noises and he fainted.

"G-Gokudera-kun...?" Kenshin said. He shook the teen lightly.

"One contestant is out," Reborn said gloomily. "He will be missed."

"He's not _dead!__"_ Tsuna objected. HE managed to wipe off all the cream, but his hair still had blotches here and there.

"Well, that's what happens when what you say doesn't reach my requirement." Reborn said. "Anyways: on to the next pair!" Orange twenty seven and red ninety-six.

"Kuffufu," Mukuro said. He raised his number. "For some reason the Arcobaleno ran out of cards. Nagi and I are sharing a number."

"That's no fair!" M.M whined. "I wanted to share with Mukuro-sama!"

"Well, Mukuro and Chrome, who will be answering?" Reborn asked.

"Nagi can answer," Chrome blushed and nodded.

"It was my second time feeling welcomed in this world," she started. "When Boss allowed me to join without question or hesitation... I was, and still am, very thankful that he has done that, because now I have a real family who cares for me." She bowed her head. "Thank you very much, Boss."

"Oi!" Ken pushed his chair back. "Are you saying that we didn't care for you? I'm the one who bought you sweets! We protected you when they weren't around!" Chrome looked at him, confused.

"Ken, Chikusa, M.M, and Mukuro-sama, I consider you all part of my family. I've never had so many people pay attention to me at one time, and care about what I do," she said softly. Ken blushed to his neck and looked away.

_This __is __getting __both __embarrassing __and __depressing, _Tsuna thought.

"Erm, Chrome," Tsuna said. "We all have to thank you as well! Without you, we couldn't have gone this far! You and Mukuro are really dependable when we need your help! Remember all those times you saved us, and Enma as well! You remember that, don't you?"

Chrome blushed. When she jumped into Enma's hold with Daemon Spade to protect him from Tsuna's XX Burner, she was only thinking of protecting those who had protected _her. _She chose to do that by herself and with Mukuro's help, they saved Enma.

Reborn broke the emotional silence by clearing his throat and saying, "Chrome's memory is also very touching. She deserves a prize!" Mukuro help up a hand.

"One moment, Arcobaleno, we are sharing a number. _And, _as Tsunayoshi says, I also had a part in protecting Shimon from his attack. Shouldn't I also have a slice?" Tsuna was trying to hand signal Mukuro from blurting out words like, "attack" and "protect". In his haste, Mukuro had forgotten about the detective who sat just six seats away from him.

"Are you sure you want a slice?" Reborn said with a gleam in his eyes that looked wicked. "If you do, you will have to share with Chrome. I gave her an extra big slice because I thought you might say that." Mukuro grinned.

"That will also do." He took a fork and was about to split the cake when he realised something; so did Tsuna, Chrome, and the rest of the Kokuyo Gang. They began to back away as much as possible.

The cake Chrome had on her plate... that she was supposed to share with Mukuro, that _cake,_was...

...

...

...

Decorated with pineapples.

Lambo screamed in delight. He had napped with I-pin after eating to his heart's content and was crawling over an unconscious Gokudera to see what was going on. "AAAAAH! IT'S PINEAPPLE! MAMA! I WANT A PINEAPPLE! It's not fair that Pineapple-Head gets to eat it!" Tsuna, afraid for Lambo's future, quickly grabbed the baby and covered his mouth. Lambo had finally noticed the atmosphere changing and stopped struggling.

Tsuna bent his back until he was cowering under the table, but still sitting on his chair. He saw many others do the same, naming the rest of the Kokuyo Gang, Yamamoto, who was laughing to himself, Basil, Fuuta, and Lancia. The rest of them just froze to see Mukuro's reaction. Even Hibari seemed _slightly _interested. His head had half turned to look at Mukuro from the corner of his left eye. Hibird snuggled in his black, soft hair and gave a last chirp before settling for an early night.

"M...Muk...kuro...sa...ma...?" Chrome said in her softest voice, which was distractingly adorable. Mukuro stood up, his head down. Tsuna shivered. He didn't need his Hyper Intuition to know that Mukuros' red eye was changing its number from six to something else.

"Baby," Mukuro said. He looked at Tsuna's direction. Lambo's head was visible. Tsuna pushed it back down and he slid lower under the table. "What. Did. That baby just call me...?" The brunet gulped. The kanji character for number one appeared: illusions.

"He-He didn't say anything, Mukuro!" Tsuna said in what he hoped was a convincing tone.

"No..." Mukuro said. "He called me...something alright. What was it?" He demanded.

"Eh?" Yamamoto said. "You mean Pineapple-Head?"

"!" Tsuna looked at Yamamoto, his eyes popping out of his head.

"B-b-b-b-baka!" Tsuna said softly. He gritted his chattering teeth. Mukuro turned back to him. Tsuna quickly looked at Kenshin, who didn't know that anything was wrong yet.

Actually, Kenshin sensed that something was happening. He just kept a straight face and turned on the mini video recorder he had pinned to his shirt as a button.

Reborn said, "If you want to blame someone, blame the person who created the name."

All heads turned to Ryohei who just looked confused with his hands crossed over his chest.

"Who?" Mukuro asked coldly.

"Hibari Kyoya," Reborn said.

"_WHAT?__" _They all exclaimed. Reborn smirked.

"Infant. What are you talking about?" Hibari had come into the room when he heard that he was blamed for something he didn't do. Reborn looked at him. They seemed to be communicating silently through glares and blinks.

Reborn blinked/stared: "He will be really mad with whoever started calling him that."

Hibari blinked/stared: "So?"

Reborn blinked/stared: "He will be so angry he might want to kill you."

Hibari blinked as he registered this. Then he let himself smile.

"That's right. _I, _Hibari Kyoya, started the nickname you now own," he said, taking out his tonfas.

"Hahi!" Haru whispered. Tsuna nearly jumped out of his own skin. With so much tension in the air, he didn't notice that Haru had also taken refuge under the table—so had everyone else except for a few individuals.

"Are they going to start fighting, Juudaime?" Gokudera asked. He was crawling his way past table legs towards Tsuna.

"No," Tsuna said confidently, surprising everyone including himself.

"What do mean, pyon?" Ken whispered. "Mukuro-sama is totally angry!" Tsuna still shook his head.

"Look at Hibird." He pointed to Hibird, who was still asleep on Hibari's head. "Hibari-san loves Hibird, and Hibird is sleeping right now. Whenever Hibari-san is about to battle, Hibird always flies away. But Hibari-san doesn't want to disturb Hibrid, so his murderous aura won't be acting up for some time," Tsuna explained. _I __hope._

"Juudaime, you're evaluation skills are amazing as expected!" Gokudera said. "I'm glad to call you my Boss!"

"Sawada-dono, you are very observant!"

Tsuna began to blush as the rest of them agreed with the two.

"If only the rest of his Guardians were so smart," Reborn sighed. He had switched back to his suit and fedora hat. "By the way, it's seven o'clock now."

"Oh! The party ended!" Tsuna said. He hit his head in his rush to get out from under the table. He poked his head up and scanned the remaining people not under.

"Kenshin-san!" He caught the detective's attention. "The party just ended! We have to clean up a big mess. We don't want to bother you anymore! These two are going to create an even bigger mess, and I don't want you to be part of the food fight, so perhaps you should go now?" Kenshin looked at them, startled. He certainly didn't want to be here if these two teenagers began some kind of mini mafia-war, because that seemed possible. Kenshin nodded his agreement. He stood up and backed away until he was at the wall, where a family photo hung. When no one was looking, he snuck a wireless spy video recorder in the shadow of the frame. Just as he was about to turn to the doorway, the beautiful Italian woman with pink hair stopped him. She gave him a piece of cake.

"Welcome to Namimori," she said. After he took the cake, she quickly went back to the others. Kenshin looked at the cake, then at the family. No one was looking.

He mumbled something about the bathroom and made a beeline towards the stairs that led up. He went into the first room he saw. Thanking the gods that it was his target's room, he quickly bugged it. He put a listening device inside Tsuna's desk drawer, another in the closet, one halfway down the wall covered by the bed, and a few more in his clothing, both uniform and regular. A few more went into the other rooms on that floor and the hallway. He raced back downstairs, took the cake, and went to put his shoes on. He noticed that the voices from the other room began to rise uncontrollably. Once his shoes were on, he looked at Tsuna's shoe and the shoes of his friends. He dug up the padding underneath the heel of the shoe and stuck in a tracking device. He had one left. Which friend to put it in? He decided on Gokudera Hayato. He boy keeps on calling the target Juudaime. And he was pretty sure that during the game, Gokudera was about to say "accepted me as his _right-hand __man__" _if the target had not stopped him. So Gokudera it is. If the boss does anything regarding the mafia, his right-hand man will definitely be involved as well. Maybe he will be in charge of organising the exchanges, moving to secret hideouts here and there, while the boss went to prepare meetings with the big guys.

Once that was done, he left the house feeling better. Throughout the party, from the moment he went in, he had bugged the entire house. There was no way they could get rid of all of them unless they bombed the place. He shut his own door in relief. Today was a good day. He went into his room and activated the devices, which automatically records every little sound and video it catches onto two separate discs. He can listen to what the Vongola Family talks about later. Now, he had to write his report while details were still fresh in his mind.


	5. Help, or More Trouble?

**Chapter Five**

Tsuna sighed. He, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, and the girls were cleaning up the mess in the living room Mukuro and Hibari left behind. Tables were turned over, which meant empty food trays were on the floor. Luckily, they were all a hungry bunch of teenagers and left barely any foods or drinks uneaten. To add to the mess, Lambo threw a few grenades everywhere. Gokudera managed to control his temper and Tsuna kicked both Hibari and Mukuro out the house so they could continue their fight without completely destroying the house.

Tsuna was folding up the banner when he noticed there were words on the other side. He flipped it over and groaned. _The Vongola Party, _was written in the back in black.

"Reborn! What would happen if he saw this?" He said. Yamamoto and Gokudera came over to see.

"Ahahaha! Isn't this the same one we used during the New Year?"

"It's called saving resources," Reborn said. "If we're having another party, we can just flip it over!" Tsuna sighed and folded it up.

Now that they were gone, the house was quiet. There were some spills and food stains on the walls, but Nana said as long as they can clean everything up, she won't get mad. They _did _clean it up, but it took two more hours. It was around nine-thirty before the last guest left the house.

Tsuna collapsed on the floor with Fuuta, Lambo, and I-pin at his side. Even Lambo was forced to do clean up duty.

"_Ah, I'm so tired!" _Tsuna said weakly. Reborn was still counting his words, and he tried to fit as many as he could before bedtime.

"Nnn..." Lambo said. Tsuna turned his head towards him and let out a small chuckle. He was already sleeping. I-pin was very close to following.

"Lambo, sleeping on the floor isn't good for you!" She said.

"Tsuna-nii, I've never been so tired before," Fuuta said.

"I'll be..._ lying if I said I… hadn't," _Tsuna said. Fuuta understood a little bit of Italian and sighed.

"Tsuna-nii has been in a lot of fights, eh?"

"_Huh... you can say _that." Tsuna was still speaking in broken Italian.

"_Tsuna, your Italian has gotten a little better,"_ Reborn commented. Tsuna nodded his head sleepily.

"That's a good thing. Now I can teach you the basics Vongomon Script, because it's based on the Italian language." Tsuna shot up.

"ARE YOU KIDDING?" He stared at Reborn exasperated. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He fell back onto the floor, dragging down a pillow from the half ruined couch to rest his head on.

"_What do you mean, Dame-Tsuna?"_ Reborn kicked him in the leg.

"On the way back in the ship, Enma told me about Vongomon Script. He started to teach me some of it because he thought we should know the secret writing our ancestors created." Tsuna put Lambo and I-pin who were now asleep, onto his lap. "I know bits and pieces of it, like how to say you're in trouble and need help and where you are. He taught me how to put in the names of places into the format so the enemy won't have a _single _clue as to what we are talking about and where we will meet. I know the numbers up to a thousand."

"_How did Enma teach you all this in three hours?" _

Tsuna scratched his head. "He shot me with a bullet made especially for Vongomon Script. He told me that it was the only way to learn it. And can you stop talking in Italian? My head hurts so much I can hardly understand you anymore."

"_Then why don't you know everything about it?"_ Reborn demanded, ignoring his plea. Tsuna gave his tutor a painful smile.

"The bullet grazed me. Enma lost aim when the ship rocked against a wave, and that was the last bullet he had." Reborn kicked him and sighed.

"You will understand how Vongomon Script is actually used if you know Italian, Dame-Tsuna. _After you become fluent in Italian, I will shoot you with the bullet."_

"_Really?"_ Tsuna lightened up. "Well, I don't like being shot by you, but Vongomon Script is interesting."

"_Leon can only make one bullet at a time and it takes a year to be completed." _Tsuna blinked slowly and frowned. "But you're in luck, Dame-Tsuna. Leon began to make the bullet some time last year. I was _wondering _why he was making it. It will be ready in three weeks."

"_Hold on, Reborn._ Do _you _understand it?"

"_Of course I do."_

"How'd you learn it?"

"_I shot myself."_

"Wait, I'm asking the wrong question..." Tsuna said. "How does _Leon _know it?"

"_Leon was originally raised by Primo. Didn't you know that?"_

"HIIIEEE? Did I hear you wrong? I thought the Ninth gave him to you!"

"The Ninth found Leon frozen by the Zero Point Breakthrough in one of the hidden places in the Vongola Mansion. Nono tells me that it probably hasn't been opened since Primo's time."

"_That's crazy_..." Tsuna said.

"_Get ready for bed, Tsuna."_

_Stop the Italian, _Tsuna thought as he trudged up the stairs. He held Lambo and I-pin. Fuuta was carried by Iemitsu. They put the kids in their rooms.

"A pretty good day, huh, Tsuna?" His dad said. His son grunted and trudged to his own room.

After taking a short, cold shower, and brushing his teeth, he dressed in his night clothes and crawled into bed.

"I hope we don't have another party again..."

"Tsuna, I forgot to tell you something." Reborn looked at his student. "Tsuna."

"_Zzzz..."_

"It's not even ten o'clock yet."

* * *

><p><strong>At the same time...<strong>

Kenshin stretched his tired muscles after typing his report. He drank from his coffee cup and rolled his chair until he sat in front of the computer monitors that recorded the listening devices. They still recorded, but he went back to the beginning from the time he left the house. He played the ones he put in the main party room, as well as the video, where most of the group were in view. He heard them loud and clear through the headphones and watched them closely on the high definition screen. Hibari and Mukuro were standing two arms length apart from each other. Hibari had a bird in his hair as he held out a pair of tonfas and Mukuro had a trident in his right hand. Tsuna and the rest of the people were against the wall, away from them. Reborn sat on Yamamoto's shoulder. Hibari lit his tonfas with purple flames, but Kenshin saw nothing out of the ordinary with the weapons because only some people can see the dying will flames.

"_Hibari-san! Mukuro! Calm down! You're going to tear my house apart!" _Tsuna cried.

"_Quiet, Decimo," _Mukuro said.

"_Stay out of this, omnivore," _the prefect said evenly.

"Hmm," Kenshin said to himself. "How are they going to fight? I can't imagine them with guns."

"_C-Calm down!" _Tsuna said.

"_Oi! Listen to Juudaime!" _Gokudera said. They ignored them and began to fight. Weapons clashed together nonstop.

_Cling! Cling! Clang! Clang! _No one landed a sold blow on the other and this continued for a few minutes.

"_Dame-Tsuna, you can't even control your own men," _Reborn said. Kenshin snorted. The kid's a weakling, no matter what the reports say about him being the boss.

"_How can I control them when they're fighting so badly?" _The target shrieked.

"_If you don't stop them, Kyoko or Haru or Mama might get hurt," _Reborn said. Kenshin watched Tsuna's reaction. He saw the brunet look at the other people in the room. The others had weapons of their own ready to use, but they waited to see what Tsuna did. When he looked back at his target, he was wearing white and blue gloves.

"Wait wait wait!" Kenshin cried and paused. "Back up a moment!" He clicked the rewind button and watched carefully. Sure enough, the brown eyes turned orange.

Tsuna ran at the two older teens and stood between them, both hands outstretched.

"_Stop," _he said, his voice suddenly had a ring of command in it. "His voice sounds deeper," Kenshin frowned. _"You'll hurt someone if you fight in such a tight spot!"_

"_Kuffufuffu... Sawada Tsunayoshi, that won't work again. You can try to stop us if you wish." _Mukuro swung his trident at Tsuna. He ducked and grabbed onto the trident which seemed to _bend _as if melted. Hibari took this chance to swing at Mukuro but Tsuna was there to stop the attack. Now, one hand held Mukuro's trident and the other had both of the tonfas between fingers.

"_STOP!" _He yelled, glaring at them both.

"_Wao," _was Hibari's reply. _"If you don't let go, I'm opening my box weapon."_

"_Same with me," _Mukuro said. His Class A Mist Attribute ring lit an indigo flame. He refused to associate himself with the Vongola, so he let Chrome take charge of the Vongola Ring. Plus, in his opinion, she needed it more than he did. Then he fixed his trident.

"_You'll destroy my house if you do that," _Tsuna said through gritted teeth.

"What is a box weapon?" Kenshin wondered. Hibari let go of his tonfas and reached into his pocket to produce a small purple box the size of his palm.

"_ALALAALAH! THERE'S A FIGHT! LAMBO-SAN IS GOING TO JOIN THEM!" _The baby named Lambo screamed. He was standing on the table. Reborn hit him with a piece of chalk.

"_Be quiet, kid," _Reborn said. The piece of chalk had turned to dust on impact.

"_Hahi! Lambo, Are you okay?" _Haru rushed forwards.

"_Gotta...stay...calm...WHAAAH! BAKA REBORN, that hurt!" _Lambo cried and put his hands into his hair. _What's he doing? _Kenshin thought. Out came a dozen pink grenades, all of the pins pulled out. Haru was a metre away from Lambo and the table. Two grenades were right on top of her. Three more went for the boys struggling to gain control over their weapons. Five flew towards the rest of the Guardians and family members. One flew towards Kenshin's screen and another landed beside Lambo. Kenshin blinked. The last thing he saw was Yamamoto taking out a bamboo sword and Tsuna's horrified face as the bombs descended onto the crowd.

"_HARU! NATSU!" _He screamed.

"_Sistema CAI!" _Gokudera yelled.

_BOOOOOM!_

Kenshin flinched and tore off the headphones. His ears were ringing! He quickly put them back on. There was no hope with vision, since the bomb had destroyed it. He listened carefully. One by one, the listening devices stopped working. He heard snippets of broken conversation.

"_Har_-shii_-u, are-_shii_-yo-_shii_-u alri-_shiik_-?" _Tsuna asked.

"_Tsu-_chiik-chiiik-_an!_ _Than_-shii-_s!"_ Haru replied.

"_Is everyone_-shii-_safe—?"_ Yamamoto asked.

"_Yea-_chshiik_-we manag-_shii_-prot-_CHIK."Gokudera's sentence was cut off.

"You're kidding me! Those were actual bombs!" All his devices were broken. "Arg...I was so close!" He thumped his head onto the desk and nearly cried out loud. Then he heard crashing as if something was being smashed into the walls of their house. He didn't need the devices to hear that, since he lived right next door. _Why haven't the police come here earlier to arrest these maniacs? _He thought and sighed.

"_Ahh! Lambo-san hurts! It hurts!" _His head shot up. He cupped the headphones tighter to his ears.

"_You stupid cow! It's your entire fault we're in this mess!" _Gokudera yelled. Lambo cried long and hard.

"_Hibari-san! Mukuro!" _Tsuna was yelling over the fight. _"I'm telling you, stop already!" _It turns out that those two had continued to fight. Roll appeared beside Hibari.

"_Roll, Cambio Forma."_

"_Stop, Hibari-san, Mukuro," _Tsuna said in a calm voice, further away. Kenshin began to grin as if Christmas had come early. The bug inside the boy's thick mass of hair was _unaffected. _

"Yes! _Yes!" _He yelled and did a happy dance. He sat back down and listened. He could tell that they started a fight.

"_Tsuna, lead them outside," _Reborn said.

"_Ah. I was planning on that," _Tsuna said. He sounded more mature...

_Crack...crack...crack... _He puzzled. What was that noise?

"_Zero Point Breakthrough: First's Edition," _Tsuna muttered.

"Zero point breakthrough, first edition? What's that?"

"_Hibari-san, Mukuro, if you're going to fight, do it outside, not in my house," _Tsuna said louder.

"_Kufufufu. Decimo, you locked us out of your house?" _Mukuro asked with amusement in his muffled voice as if he was speaking to them through a wall.

"_Pay attention," _Hibari said. He heard a _whack_ and a _cling! _

"_Ah... now that that's dealt with,"_ Tsuna said. Kenshin frowned. Tsuna's voice was back to normal? Why on earth did he change his voice?

"_HIIIE! What happened in here? It's a mess!"_

He heard them clean up, which took about two hours. During that time, he thought of what he saw and heard. None of it made any sense. He was distracted from his thoughts when they spoke again.

"_Ah, I'm so tired!" _Tsuna said.

"_Nnn..."_ Lambo said. Tsuna chuckled.

"_Lambo, sleeping on the floor isn't good for you!"_ I-pin said.

"_Tsuna-nii, I've never been so tired before,"_ Fuuta said.

"I'll be..._ lying if I said I _hadn't,_" _Tsuna said, half in Italian.

"_Tsuna-nii has been in a lot of fights, eh?" _

"_Huh... you can say _that." Tsuna was still speaking in broken Italian.

"_Tsuna, your Italian has gotten better,"_ Reborn said. Kenshin took a bite from the cake the woman gave him. His face turned green and he took off the headphones to run to the washroom, missing the next conversation.

"_That's a good thing. Now I can teach you Vongomon Script, because it's based on the Italian language."_

"_ARE YOU KIDDING?"_ Tsuna yelped. _"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"_

"_What do you mean, Dame-Tsuna?"_ Reborn asked.

"_On the way back in the ship, Enma told me about Vongomon Script. He started to teach me some of it because he thought we should know the secret writing our ancestors created. I know bits and pieces of it, like how to say you're in trouble and need help and where you are. He taught me how to put in the names of places into the format so the enemy won't have a single clue as to what we are talking about and where we will meet. I know the numbers up to a thousand." _The conversation went on until Tsuna picked Lambo up and left him in his room with I-pin and Fuuta.

Kenshin came back after throwing up as well as brushing his teeth because he wanted to get rid of the cake and heard nothing. He turned on the bugs in his target's room and waited. He heard shuffling, groans, and yawns.

"_I hope we don't have another party again..." _Tsuna said tiredly.

"_Tsuna, I forgot to tell you something." _Reborn said. Kenshin waited for him to continue but he didn't. _"Tsuna."_

He heard snoring. _He's asleep... _he thought.

"_It's not even ten o'clock yet."_ The baby said.

Well, they aren't going to talk in their sleep," Kenshin said and yawned. "Even if they do, I'll catch it." He dropped onto his own bed, which was conveniently beside the desk. Tomorrow, he would use the wireless connection with the listening devices so he can eavesdrop on their conversation whilst still following them. He was so disoriented he didn't bother to rewind to listen to Reborn and Tsuna's conversation.

**-One hour later-**

Kenshin rolled on his bed. "Nn...talking baby...bombs...mafia joke...exploding babies...crazy ball player... pineapples...cows...poison...cooking..._groan..._

* * *

><p>The next morning, Tsuna woke up at seven because of the pain in his arm but he tried to ignore it. The sun blinded his eyes and he turned over to try sleeping again. A messenger bird landed on the window sill. Reborn took the message and the bird flew off. He grinned when he read it.<p>

_**-Cozart-**_

_**We wouldn't miss it for the world. Expect us in two days. -Enma**_

_**-Giotto-**_

"Oi, Tsuna!" Reborn hopped into the bed. "Don't fall asleep again. I'll have to wake you up if you do."

"Hnn..." Tsuna opened one brown sleepy eye to look at Reborn. _"Ciaossu..."_

"That's not Italian." Tsuna groaned and turned so his face was in the pillow.

"_Ciao, then. But _you say _Ciaossu_ so why _can't me?"_ Tsuna mumbled. Reborn cocked his head. He had never really experienced Tsuna's groggy morning-talk before. Usually, he just kicks the boy out of bed and he's wide awake.

"_It's I, not me," _Reborn corrected. Tsuna sighed and sat up, half asleep. He had a bad night. His dreams were filled with Italian.

"_Good morning," _he said with half open eyes and twisted night shirt. He pulled the blanket away and put his bare feet on the cold floor. The door slammed open and Tsuna, who was half standing, fell.

"Oof!"

"TSUNA! LET'S GO FOR A RUN!" His dad yelled. Tsuna blinked at his dad until he remembered that the jibberish his dad spoke was Japanese.

"_I'm_ too tired _for that_... and I have to _get_ ready for _school_..." He said. Poor Tsuna was messing up his sentences now.

"Awe, fine. See you later!"

"Oh! Dad! How _long you are _staying in Japan?" Tsuna asked. His dad turned around with a grim expression.

"I'll be staying until your _grandpa_," he emphasised the word, "says he's satisfied that you're safe from harm."

"Grandpa..." _You mean the Ninth..._ Tsuna thought. _He's very considerate. _

"_Come on, Tsuna. Get your clothes on. It'll do some good to arrive at school on time once in a while," _Reborn said. _"And it's 'how long are you', not 'how long you are', Dame-Tsuna."_

"See you!" Iemitsu closed the door.

Tsuna took off his shirt and looked at his arm. _Ow..._

"I forgot about this," Tsuna laughed. Reborn was unconvinced.

"_Take it off. Let's see how it looks." _Reborn examined the wound. It was healing. He let out a sigh. _"Dame-Tsuna, does it hurt?" _

"_Of course _it hurts, it's a _cut!"_

"_Does it hurt more than a bullet wound should?" _Reborn rephrased his question. Tsuna was silent. Reborn kicked him in the knee joint.

"OW!"

"_Well?"_

"_A little," _Tsuna winced, rubbing his sore leg. "Reborn, was the bullet that hit me a special bullet? I've been having headaches ever since I got it, and my arm feels like it's on fire."

"_You don't look like you're in pain," _Reborn said. Tsuna said, _"I_ didn't want anyone _to_ worry, so I tried _to_ _hid_ _it."_

"_Humph. Good thing I trained you so much then," _Reborn said and corrected, "it's _hide, _not _hid."_

"_Eh?"_

"_If you didn't have high pain tolerance you would be screaming like a little girl and crying like Lambo by now." _Tsuna shivered at the thought. He wrapped it with a fresh bandage and put on his uniform. He felt something hard against his right side. He felt it.

"_What's wrong, Dame-Tsuna?" _Reborn asked with a grin. Tsuna just shook his head. His Hyper Intuition was telling him something was wrong.

"_Nothing._ _I am_ just itchy." He slowly poked until he found the source. He dug out a tiny black device and handed it to Reborn. He knew what it was instantly.

"Do you feel itchy anywhere else?" Reborn asked with a raised eyebrow. Do you think there are any more _bugs_ on you, was the real question.

"_No, I_ think that was _me_ last itch." Reborn gave it back to Tsuna. He looked at his tutor. He gestured to put it back. Then it clicked. _Oh... if I destroyed it, then whoever put it there will know something's up._

They went downstairs. Fuuta and I-pin were already awake. They said their good mornings and continued to play their hand game.

"Tsu-kun! You're up early!" Nana said. She was making breakfast.

"Morning," Tsuna said.

"HEHEHE! LAMBO-SAN IS THE FIRST ONE UP!" Lambo barged in, his horns at odd angles.

"No you aren't!" Tsuna laughed.

"Baka Tsuna! Why are you up so early?" Lambo asked. Tsuna shrugged.

"I felt like it." Lambo wasn't even listening to him anymore.

"Mama, Lambo-san is hungry!"

"Lambo, you shouldn't call yourself Lambo-san," Tsuna said, not for the first time.

"Bleh!" Lambo stuck out his tongue and pulled down an eyelid. Then he started to annoy Fuuta and I-pin.

"_Good morning, Tsuna," _Bianchi said. She remembered that the love of her life had asked her to speak Italian, and so she did.

"_Morning," _Tsuna replied. Reborn hit his head and made Tsuna copy syllable by syllable how to say it properly. _"Since you spoke exactly twenty different Italian words, you have escaped punishment, but let's see how you do on the second day with thirty words," _Reborn said.

"_I'm doomed..." _Tsuna said.

After that, the table became loud. So loud that Tsuna felt it was safe to talk.

"Reborn, _what if _it wasn't _the...de-tect-ive..._who bugged my clothes?" He whispered, trying to pronounce the word "detective" properly in Italian.

"_We would have been alerted if it was the assassin."_

"Why are you so sure? No one was paying attention outside because we were all eating and playing inside, except for Hibari, since he hates—huh?" Tsuna looked at Reborn, who had a knowing smile.

"_The Cloud Guardian was protecting the family in his own way," _He said, _"at the same time as avoiding them. Hibari would have seen someone trying to get into your room through the window. They would have to pass by him, and that would be considered disrupting his peace."_

"Hibari-san..."

"_Oh, I forgot to tell you that Lambo also has a bug in his hair," _Reborn said.

Tsuna continued to eat. "I wouldn't be surprised if he did. He probably has half eaten food, too—WHAT! Bugs?" Tsuna hissed. "That means Kenshin heard everything about Vongomon Script last night." Reborn shrugged.

"_He can't do anything about it even if he _does_ know it exists. Besides, I have a feeling he didn't hear that part of our conversation. Oh, you'd best hurry up. You'll be bitten to death if you don't leave the house right now."_

"Huh? Reborn that was too much. I couldn't understand you—something about bitten and late?" He looked at the time.

"_HIIEEE!_ Mom! I'm leaving now! Bye!" And almost flew out the house in his rush.

"Bye!" Everyone inside shouted.

"_Decimo!" _Gokudera and Yamamoto were just around the corner.

"Morning!" Tsuna greeted.

"Hey, Tsuna! We thought we'd wait a bit for you," Yamamoto laughed. "I guess we don't need to do that.

"Che! _I _was coming here by myself, but then the baseball freak followed me."

"Now, now, it doesn't matter who came first, it's safer if we're all together, right?" Yamamoto said seriously. Tsuna urged them forward. He felt the detective's eyes on them. _Talk about stalking... _

Reborn started to talk to them about their training. Tsuna thought that if they said another word about the assassin, they would be giving the detective more information. He dug into his bag for a pencil and paper. He quickly scribbled some words and showed it to his two friends while Reborn continued to talk.

_I'm bugged. _Gokudera's eyes widened. "When did that happen?" He asked. Yamamoto looked confused.

"Bu—?" Reborn landed on his shoulder and tugged at his left ear. Tsuna crumpled the piece of paper and put it back in his bag.

"I realised that—I...spilled juice...on my desk this morning, and now... ants... are everywhere...but it probably happened yesterday during the party," Tsuna said. Gokuderea nodded his understanding. Reborn explained to Yamamoto what they were talking about.

"Did you find anymore?" He questioned. Tsuna shook his head.

"I'll look for the exact locations when I go home," Reborn said softly. "They were all over the house since the party began."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Tsuna asked. His tutor turned to him.

"It's your own fault you didn't notice what was going on in your own home. I'm not going to be with you forever, you know."

* * *

><p>Nothing dangerous happened at school that day... unless you included Hibari's daily herbivore beatings and Gokudera almost bombing the entire science class because the class was making fun of Tsuna.<p>

All in all, the day was uneventful.

Before going to bed, Reborn pointed out all the bugs and forced Tsuna to remember them. Then he punished the brunet for not speaking thirty Italian words.

* * *

><p><em>Day 6: Friday<em>

_15:00_

_Target is dismissed from school and is walking _

_home with Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi _

_and Sasawaga Ryohei. Their conversation is _

_recorded through the device inside the target's uniform vest._

_15:20_

_Tamiko Mio arrives behind them. I'm recording _

_the scene with a bug so I could leave and still _

_know what's happening._

Kenshin does so, activates it, and runs down another street. He gasps loudly and goes into his own house. He runs to his room after a quick stop in the kitchen and turns on the computer to check on the bug he placed on a window in his house that faced the front door.

* * *

><p>Ryohei, Gokudera, and Yamamoto were walking home with Tsuna in case for such more attacks on his life.<p>

"Juudaime, did Reborn-san tell you anything about this family?" Gokudera asked when he couldn't take the silence a moment longer.

"No, he didn't say a word of it. And we can't do any research on our own, since I don't know where to start."

"Sh!" Yamamoto hissed. They stopped walking. Tsuna grabbed for his gloves and Gokudera had his box weapons on his belt.

A bald man stood in front of them with a long, curved knife in each hand. He wore a white t-shirt ripped at the sleeves and black jeans. He was clean shaven and white skinned; not from around here. Yamamoto's katana was out in an instant. Tsuna stood with his gloves, ready for action. He had a green circular tattoo on his left arm. He was muscular and bigger and in his late thirties.

"Who are you?" Gokudera growled. He had his box weapon on his left arm, already loaded with dynamite. The man said nothing. He attacked. Yamamoto went at him, since he fought with the blade. The rest of them watched intently. Both were as good as the other.

"Yamamoto," Tsuna said worridly. Style after style, he defended and attacked.

"C'mon, baseball freak! What are you waiting for? Beat him up!" Gokudera yelled. Tsuna felt the familiar twinge in his chest and he turned around to see a woman dressed similar to the man. She also had a green tattoo but this wasn't a full circle.

Tsuna dropped his bag and activated his dying will flames as a round of bullets were fired in his direction. Something red surrounded by bones came in between them. He looked at his right-hand man from the corner of his eye.

"Thanks, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said.

"My pleasure. Juudaime, let me handle this." Tsuna shook his head.

"She's not using ordinary bullets. Just defend me." He flew at the woman, who shot out more bullets, this time more accurately. But each time, Gokudera's shield was there to meet it. Tsuna knocked the gun out of her hand and kneed her in the belly. She flew backwards.

"Nice one, Juudaime!"

"I didn't get her," Tsuna said. The woman just avoided it by following the movement.

"Not bad," the woman said, laughing. "Not bad at all."

"Who are you?" Tsuna asked.

"All you need to know is that we were sent to kill you, young Vongola," she answered as she pulled out another gun.

_Tsk, _Tsuna thought. This was the fourth assassination attempt on his life; the first one made by Verde as a test, second by Bianchi trying to get Reborn back, third attempt were those green bullets outside the school building, and the fourth one right now.

He dodged the bullets and stood in position for a mini X-Burner, not strong enough to kill her.

_Ready to launch, Boss, _came the mechanic voice.

He let it out. The woman gave him a small frown and straightened the gun. It was aimed for Tsuna's hand.

The flames rushed to her. She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. A bright green light was shot out. It spread to block the X-Burner flames. From Tsuna's point of view, he could see nothing in front of him except for a lightening dying will flame matching his own X-Burner.

_Impossible, _Tsuna thought. _I shot out a weak X-Burner; barely ten percent, but how can something so weak out of a gun block it? _Then the green blaze began to overpower his X-Burner. _Shoot._

He put his hands together to make a square with his thumbs. He closed his eyes and the dying will flame on his forehead began to pulse.

_WHUMP_

Gokudera and Ryohei were blinded for a moment. Tsuna was on the ground propped up by his elbows staring the the woman before him.

"Juudaime!"

"SAWADA!" The Guardians yelled. They acted in an instant. Ryohei ran and grabbed Tsuna's arms to pull them away. Gokudera raised his red shield and shot at the woman.

BAM!

The barrel of the gun let out a thin streak of smoke as the bullet shot out. Red dying will flames coated with blue ones shot out from Gokudera's weapon. She jumped out of the way and landed a few metres away from them. She had a knee and a hand on the ground to slow her sliding.

_Damn those Guardians! They're always in the way! _Tamiko thought.

"Regroup!" She yelled and threw them a bomb. The man still fighting Yamamoto a few yards back disengaged and the two assassins disappeared.

"Watch out!" Tsuna was pushed to the ground by Ryohei and Gokudera, the red shield in front of their noses. "YAMAMOTO!"

BOOM!

After the shock, they stood up to look at the results. The walls to either side of them were scorched badly.

"Yamamoto! You okay?" They called and heard coughing.

"Yeah! I managed to defend myself with a stance right when the thing exploded. Ahaha!" He laughed before coughing again.

"So everyone's okay?" Tsuna asked anxiously. Three heads nodded.

"Dame-Tsuna, you'd better get out of here before the neighbours come out," Reborn said.

"You were here all along?" Tsuna asked.

"Obviously," Reborn said. "I had to see these assassins."

"You could've helped us," Tsuna grumbled. Reborn kicked him.

"You were doing fine without me."

"When we get home, I don't care what you do, you're going to tell us who they are," Tsuna said through his teeth.

They ran the rest of the way. Tsuna reverted back to Hyper Dying Will Mode, just in case. It was only when they reached his front porch that he let the flames go. He looked at their clothing.

Tsuna's face was streaked with soot and his hair was mucky. The right side of his uniform near his abdomen was cleanly burned off in his haste to stop the X-Burner to absorb the flames of his opponent. Other than that, he was alright. Gokudera and Ryohei were fine. Yamamoto had a few cuts here and there, but nothing too deep Ryohei couldn't heal. They tried to clean themselves up as much as possible before entering. Tsuna brushed most of the dirt from his hair and shirt. He held his bag close to his right side so his mother wouldn't see the burn marks on it.

"Mom, we're home!" He said. "Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto and Onii-san are with me!"

"Hello," they said politely. Nana stuck her head out of the kitchen and frowned.

"What _happened _to you boys? You're all dirty and scratched up!"

"Eh..." Reborn jumped in.

"Tsuna tripped and fell down a muddy hill. These three tried to pull him back up but ended up falling themselves. They crashed into a thorny bush and now all their clothes are in tatters. Dame-Tsuna even managed to have half of his torn off." They nodded as Reborn explained, as if it was the most natural thing.

"Oh, you boys are so playful," Tsuna's mother laughed.

"Eh-ha-ha," Tsuna forced out with a smile.

"We'll be in my room," Tsuna said and took off his shoes. He waved at his mother with a hand that was covered by a pair of white mittens with a red twenty seven on them. He was too tired to take them off.

"Ah! Tsu-Kun!" Tsuna and his friends had already gone upstairs.

"What is it, Mama?" Reborn asked.

"His friends came to visit and they're waiting in his room," she said. Reborn smiled.

"Then that means we're going to have more people join us for dinner tomorrow; about seven of them."

Tsuna had his hand on the doorknob but he didn't turn it.

"Juudaime...?"

His Hyper Intuition told him that there were people in his room, but no alarm bells in his head were ringing. _I can't be too careful, _he thought grimly.

His friends didn't see Tsuna's face, but they saw the glove on the handle turn white and blue which instantly put them on the alert. He flung the door open, prepared for anything... maybe not _everything._

"E-Enma-kun?" Tsuna yelped. His flames disappeared. He took a good look around the room and found Shitt P. leaning on his closet doors, Rauji was on the floor leaning against the bed with a happy Lambo climbing on him, Kaoru sat opposite them, and Aoba was leaning on Tsuna's desk playing with a pen whereas Julie sat on the chair beside him. Adelheid stood right by the door and Enma sat on the bed with I-pin beside him.

* * *

><p>Kenshin splits the screen so the left one showed the boss and his three friends facing the assassins. The right one showed Sawada's front door. He rewinds the tape and sits back to watch both. At 2:50 PM today, a boy with red hair and red eyes stands outside Sawada Residence with a large fellow beside him. The smaller boy looked to be Tsuna's age, and just as vulnerable. The bigger boy reminded Kenshin of a mountain. They rang the doorbell. Sawada Nana recognises them and lets them in. Kenshin plays the bug he put in the vase.<p>

"_Enma-kun! It's great to see you again! Did you come by for a visit?"_

"So this is Enma," Kenshin said.

"_Hello! We'll be staying in Namimori for a while. I'm looking for Tsuna-kun and his friends. Are they around?"_

"_They're still in school," _Nana said._ "You can wait in Tsu-kun's room! They'll be back in a bit."_

"_Rauji!" _Lambo screamed and jumped onto the bigger boy. "Lambo knows them as well?"

"_Hi Lambo, I brought the candy you wanted," _he said. Lambo laughs joyfully and they all go in.

Fifteen minutes later, a girl and two boys arrive. The girl had an odd outfit: two large inflatable rings were wrapped around her. One male looked older and tougher than the rest of them and the other had dark sunglasses. They were all let into the house.

"Who are these people?" Kenshin murmured to himself. "I hate surprises."

Another five minutes, a tall girl with large breasts, wearing all black, the same colour of her long hair tied back, also knocked on the Sawada door. With her was a man who strutted as he walked. He was trying to kiss the girl, but she slams his head into the concrete wall. Kenshin winced. The man stands back up, rubbing his head. The girl yells at him and all he did was nod his head and wave a hand at her. They, too, were let in.

"Such a variety of personalities and age," Kenshin thought out loud, "yet they are all friends of Juudaime?" An explosion from the left screen catches his attention.

"_Watch out!" _

BOOM! Another bug lost. Kenshin sighed. _The lieutenant's going to murder me._

A few moments later, the group arrives with dirty clothes.

* * *

><p>"Tsuna-kun! It's good to see you again!" Enma smiled.<p>

"Yo!" Yamamoto greeted. Ryohei and Aoba traded insults. Gokudera was as stunned as his boss.

"TSUNA!" Lambo screamed. "I GOT MY CANDY AND YOU AREN'T GETTING ANY!"

"W-Why are we all here and not in the living room, where there's more space?" Tsuna asked. It felt like there was hardly any room to breathe.

"At first, it was just me and Rauji, so your mom told us to wait in your room," Enma said. "The rest of them went to say greetings to the Guardians they fought against before. Shittopi-chan, Kaoru and Aoba heard that Gokudera-kun, Sasawaga-kun and Yamamoto-kun were with you, so here they are. The Adelheid and Julie came here to look for me and now we're all crowded. Sorry about that."

"No, no, that's not a problem. Let's go into the living room," Tsuna said. Enma grinned and followed him down the stairs. The rest of his Guardians filed out as well. "Why are you in Namimori again anyways? I thought you said you had things to deal with in your town."

"Oh, that's all settled. We have people to look after the place until we get back. They'll be fine. We came because—"

"The Arcobaleno told us to come." Adelheid interrupted.

"We were worried about you," Enma said at the same time but Adelheid's loud voice droned out his soft one.

"Reborn did? When did he do that?"

"He wrote it in Vongomon Script at the back of your letter. Here, I brought it with me." Enma pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry about that. Adelheid made us pack light and booked us train tickets the next time available—which was half an hour. I didn't have time to put it somewhere better."

"That's okay..." Tsuna said. He flipped his letter around and there was the writing. He understood half of it thanks to the bullet that grazed him. The words Luna Famiglia jumped out at him and the bit about the bullet being dangerous. He unconsciously touched his arm. Then the last paragraph made his eyes pop out.

"Enma, we were _not _having fun," Tsuna said, shaking his head.

"What are you talking about, Dame-Tsuna? We just had a party yesterday—that was very fun." Reborn was already sitting on the low table in the room, drinking espresso with his legs crossed and his chameleon on his fedora hat.

"That wasn't _fun! _The living room was _destroyed!"_ Tsuna shouted.

"Ah, that reminds me," Reborn said. "So were all the bugs he put. He had one under the table, one in the couch and a mini video-bug in the wall. All were destroyed by Lambo's grenades except for the one in his hair." He looked around. "Where _is_ the stupid cow?"

"In the kitchen," Rauji said in his gruff voice. "He'll be back in a moment." Reborn nodded.

"Fuuta, take I-pin and Lambo into the yard and make sure they play loudly. I don't want the detective to hear anything."

"Hai!" Fuuta got up to look for his two new charges.

The two families sat around the table and looked at one another. Gokudera was miffed when he found out that Shittopi-chan wasn't an UMA and was now annoyed that she thinks _he _was one.

"You're a day early, Dame-Enma. You said that you'll be here in two days."

"Well..." Enma looked at Adelheid who ignored them. "When we got your letter, I went to the Island and found some interesting things about the Luna Family and decided to come earlier."

"Is the Luna Family the one that's trying to kill Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked.

"Yeah," Enma began. Tsuna's mother came in carrying cake left from the party.

"Most of them left without having cake," Nana said. "I would feel bad about throwing away the girls' hard work."

"It's okay. They'll eat it," Reborn said.

"Thank you for the food," the group said together. Nana giggled and left the room. _Such a happy bunch, _she thought, and then had a worried look on her face.

"Reborn-san, shouldn't we call all the Guardians?" Gokudera asked. Tsuna stared at his friend in horror.

"By Guardians, are you including Hibari-san and Mukuro?" Tsuna squeaked. Reborn answered his question.

"I already called them. This time, Chrome will be coming instead and Hibari doesn't care. He might send Kusakabe Tetsuya instead and have him report back what happens. He should be arriving in a bit. We don't need the stupid cow here."

"Ehh, so this is the Vongola Decimo Enma has been telling me about?" Julie asked. Since he was possessed by Daemon Spade, he had no memories of Tsuna or his Guardians.

"H-Hello, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi," he said.

Julie snorted. "He's just like Enma."

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Tsuna stood up.

"Juudaime, you shouldn't answer the door anymore! I'll do it. You can stay seated!" Gokudera was already half way to the door.

"Tsuna-kun, did something happen recently?" Enma asked. He noticed the tears in their clothing and Ryohei healing Yamamoto's cuts.

"We got attacked by the...Luna Family, you say?" Tsuna said, "A man who had a full green circle as a tattoo on his left arm, and a woman who had a similar tattoo." Adelheid looked thoughtful. Gokudera came back in leading the way for a blue-ish purple haired girl and a man who wore his hair in a pompadour.

"Chrome and Tetsuya-san!" Tsuna said. "Sorry you had to come in such a short notice." Chrome bowed.

"That's okay, Boss." Julie whistled as he eyed the young, shy girl.

"It's nice to see you again, Sawada-san." Tetsuya had his older self's memories and felt like he actually knew Tsuna the way his older self did.

"H-Hello," the brunet said.

"Anyways, back to the topic of the Luna Family," Reborn said. "Yes, they are the ones who tried assassinating Dame-Tsuna both times. The first time, they hit Tsuna in his arm with their bullet."

Aoba sucked in a breath. "That's got to hurt."

"Of course it does," Adelheid snapped. "There's no living being on Earth that can withstand the pain."

"Uh, what are you talking about?" Tsuna asked.

"They're talking about the bullet wound," Reborn said. "If you are hit with their bullets, the wound takes triple the amount of time to heal than if you were shot by any old bullet. You also feel like the place you're hit is on fire and you get massive headaches if you try to ignore it. It takes away half the stamina you have and makes you weak."

_So _that's _why my X-Burner didn't work... If half of my strength is gone because of the wound from the bullet my X-Burner was probably only at four or five percent... _Tsuna thought. _That's hardly enough to defeat a fully trained assassin._

"What is the bullet called, Reborn-san? If it has such effects, there must be a name for it," Gokudera said.

"It's called," Reborn stalled. All of them leaned in closer. "..."

"Reborn?" Tsuna risked a look beneath the fedora to see Reborn's face. His eyes were open but the bubble coming out of his nose told them a different story.

"He's asleep," Tsuna said exasperated. They all sighed. Enma laughed quietly.

"He does this often, doesn't he?"

"Too often," Tsuna and Gokudera said.

"I guess it's a good thing I found information about them at home then. And it _does _have something to do with the Vongola Famiglia," Enma said. They looked at him inquisitively. He simply shrugged. "I'm guessing that Reborn doesn't know any more than that." Reborn's bubble burst and he looked at Enma.

"It's not that I don't know any more, it's that I believe the Shimon has more accurate information." Enma pulled on one of his red curls lightly.

"Why do you think that?"

"The Shimon had a spy in their top ranks some time during the second generation," Reborn stated.

"How do _you_ know that?" Aoba demanded.

"He's Reborn," Julie said, flicking the fork he had in his mouth up and down as he spoke, "what do you expect?" Reborn nodded at the compliment. He welcomed them.

"In any case, yes, there was a spy once," Enma said. "I found the spy's reports and Simon's letters warning Giotto."

"Simon? But he's the first boss; shouldn't the spy report to the second boss?" Tsuna wondered.

"He did. And the second boss told Simon, who was retired instead of being killed. He sent a letter to Giotto about what the spy found concerning the Vongola Family.

"As you might already know, the Luna Family is made mostly out of assassins who are possibly at the same level as the Varia. Other than that, they are…" Enma hesitated. "Let's just say that they're religious."

"Religious," Yamamoto and Ryohei repeated. "What does that got to so with anything to the _extreme?" _Ryohei asked.

"They have this Oracle that the boss visits once in a life time after giving it offerings. He is allowed to bring one of his top advisors with him. Guess who he chose?"

"The spy," Gokudera said. "Shimon had a spy in enemy territory so close to the boss? That's impressive."

"You're right," Enma said. Then he coughed. "Sorry, my throat's gone dry."

"I'll continue," Adelheid said with a huff. "You were never any good at speaking to a large group and projecting your voice. Go get something to drink." Enma nodded and excused himself.

"So, they went to see the Oracle though it only spoke to the boss. Our spy was briefed on what was said because he was trusted. He learned that the Oracle told the boss that the Luna family will have a chance to rise in the Mafia World if they can defeat the Vongola Tenth Generation Boss."

"Me?" Tsuna fell back. Adelheid nodded, a bit annoyed at the interruption.

"This prophecy was very important for the Luna Family, so it, like the previous one from their first boss, was kept safely, not one word of it changing. They weren't allowed to reword any of it, so it's written down just as how the boss heard it. There you have it. That's the real reason why they're after Sawada." Enma came back with a cup of green tea in his hands.

Adelheid continued, "Then the spy reported and Simon sent a warning to Giotto, although the event probably wouldn't happen until nine generations later. I say nine, because then Giotto was still in power, with a twelve year old son."

"So that's why they're after Tsuna," Yamamoto said.

"I DON'T GET IT TO THE _EXTREME!" _Ryohei shouted.

"Arg! Turf-Top! You never understand anything until it's drawn out for you!" Gokudera said angrily.

"We'll explain to him again later," Reborn said. "If he doesn't then I'll force him understand." Tsuna gulped.

"Anyways, what's the bullet called?" Tsuna asked, recalling Gokudera's original question.

"It's called _La Mort Lente_," Enma said absentmindedly. He blew and sipped his tea, then set it on the table.

"La Mor Launt?" Tsuna repeated. He checked that in his small Italian vocabulary list. Launt sounded familiar. So did Mor. Gokudera slammed a hand against the table, making Tsuna and Enma jump. The rest just looked at him.

"Oi, is your information really accurate?" He said.

"Gokudera-kun, what's wrong?" Tsuna asked.

"Those words are French, not Italian!" Enma nodded in agreement.

"They were originally a mafia family from France. It means—"

"Slow Death," Gokudera finished bitterly. Just the name of it made Tsuna feel uncomfortable. Again, he touched his wound.

"How exactly does it gain that name?" He asked, not really wanting to hear the answer. It came anyways.

"In your case Tsuna-kun," Enma said, "you have already experienced about a third or two of it. First there's the wound; which I see has been kept nicely."

"OF COURSE! I HEAL IT AS MUCH AS I CAN EVERYDAY TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei roared again.

"And having box weapons help slow the killing process. After the wound comes the healing. At first you thought of it as any wound you might have had before, right?" Tsuna nodded. "But then it starts to itch and burn like you stuck the hand in an open fire."

"Juudaime, you've felt that?" Gokudera asked. He had the most worried expression Tsuna has ever seen on his face.

"Yes…but it's bearable. I hate to say it, but Reborn's demonic training plus the battles we've had made me used to such injuries."

"And because of that, this half healed, fire-burning bullet wound hurts Dame-Tsuna just twice as much what I usually give him on a daily basis," Reborn said. He kicked his student for calling his tutor demonic.

_Good thing I don't have him as a tutor, _Enma thought. Reborn looked at him and he shied away.

"A-And then it depends on how deep the wound is and how much healing as been done. Tsuna-kun, could we see it?" Tsuna nodded and unwrapped the bandage on his arm after checking that his mother was still doing the laundry outside. They all leaned in closely. The stitches held the skin together. Ryohei used his flame to examine the inside.

"I'd say it will take another week to heal with my help to the _extreme_," he said.

"That's good," Enma said. He sighed and sipped the hot tea. "Because if it doesn't heal within three weeks, Tsuna-kun is as good as dead," he finished.

"Don't jinx Juudaime!" Gokudera yelled.

"It's okay, Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna smiled brightly. "Onii-san said that it will heal in a week."

"That reminds me to the _extreme, _SAWADA! After today's fight you might have made it worse! I need to put some extreme healing effort into it!" Without waiting for a reply, he opened his box weapon and took out a spatula-looking-stick.

"Th-Thanks…"

"It's also called slow death because no matter where it hits, you won't die until being bedridden for three weeks if the wound isn't completely healed by then."

"That means no more fighting for you, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said. "We also need to put a cast on it so there will be definitely nothing that can stop its healing process."

"A _cast? _That's for when I break an arm!" Reborn's eyes twinkled.

"Would you like one so you _have _to wear a cast for three weeks?"

"HIIIE! No way!"

"Then stop complaining, Dame-Tsuna. Gokudera, have you learned how to put a proper cast on an arm?" Gokudera shrugged.

"I've read about it, but I haven't done it to anything alive yet. Juudaime will be my first patient."

"HIIIIIE!"

"Don't worry, Juudaime! I've seen Shamal do it plenty of times! And someone had it done for me once when I was little!" _For some reason I'm still not reassured, _Tsuna thought.

Then Lambo came running in with a basket full of laundry on his head. Tsuna did his best to hide his arm from his mother's view which wasn't as hard as he thought. All he had to do was place his left hand over the stitches.

"HEHEHEHEH! LAMBO-SAN IS VERY HELPFUL!" He screamed. Clothes dropped out of the basket and I-pin picked them up. Fuuta held another one.

"Lambo! Stop running!" I-pin yelled. "Wait!"

"Lambo-san waits for no one! Hahaha!" Yamamoto laughed as well.

"Once his cast is on, we'll continue with the Italian lessons and Tsuna can get used to writing with his left hand."

"What? I can't write with my left hand!" Tsuna yelled. Reborn turned the gun to his face.

"Did you say something?" Tsuna shook his head frantically, holding up two hands in defeat. "I thought as much. Shimon Family, do you have a place to stay?" Reborn asked, "Because we don't have enough room in this house for you." _So blunt, _Tsuna thought.

Adelheid said, "Don't worry. We're staying where we did the last time we were here. And about that detective of yours…" Reborn smirked.

"Don't worry about that. We're going to have some fun during the weekend. That is, if Dame-Tsuna finishes his school work."

"Yo, Vongola Decimo, you better finish _all_ your homework today," Julie said and stood up. "Thanks for the food. It was excellent." Chrome blushed. She, Kyoko, Haru, and I-pin made the cake together and she was glad that someone liked it.

"Oh, Tsuna-kun!" Enma stopped before following his Guardians out the door. "A few of us will be attending Namimori Middle again! We already sent in our application forms."

"EEEH?" Tsuna said. "That's great!"

"But… Adelheid and Hibari might fight," he said glumly. Tsuna's shoulders sagged at the prospect of being on the receiving end of Hibari's tonfas for causing so much trouble…again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Okay. that bit about Leon being owned by Primo? Totally made up. I'm pretty sure. So yeah, it's not cannon! XD Just...thought I should point that out.


	6. Double Tsuna

**Chapter Six**

"Ow!" Tsuna screamed when Reborn twisted his arm back. "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!"

"Dame-Tsuna, how many Italian sentences did you say today?" Reborn asked.

"You said _words _this morning!" Tsuna objected. "You didn't say sentences!"

They were in Tsuna's room, ten in the evening. Reborn had suddenly pounced on his student and began his torture after the cast secured his arm.

"Did I? I meant sentences, not words—sorry about that."

"You can't just say _sorry _like that! Ow-ow-ow-ow!" Reborn kneed his lower back painfully. Then he turned the brunet over and gave him a few invisible bruises on the face.

"Ow..." Tsuna said.

"Okay, time for bed. You still have a fight with Hibari tomorrow."

"Wha...What d'ya mean?" Tsuna asked through swollen lips.

"Remember when you were late a while ago? I promised him to fight you so he can discipline you."

"I don't want to fight Hibari-san!" He pulled the covers over his face.

"This is a nightmare. Wake up, Tsuna, wake up!" His tutor kicked his head.

"It's not a nightmare. Get your sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow's game."

"Fighting Hibari-san isn't what I would call a game," he said.

"What are you talking about? Who said anything about Hibari?"

"Eh?"

"The Vongola Family and Shimon Family are going to the amusement park tomorrow since it's Saturday," Reborn told him and then went to sleep.

_We're going to the amusement park, _Tsuna thought. _Finally, some time to rest!_

* * *

><p>The next day, Tsuna was in a good mood as he went down for breakfast. He was humming a tune.<p>

"Tsuna-nii, did something good happen?" Fuuta asked. He and Lambo were eating.

"Yeah, Reborn said that we're all going to the amusement park today!" Tsuna said.

"YAY!" They all cheered.

"Kaa-san, do you want to come with us?" Tsuna asked.

"It sounds fun! Count me in!"

"I'll make lunch," Bianchi said.

"_HIIIEE! _Th-That's alright, Bianchi," Tsuna said quickly. "Y-You don't need to make lunch!"

"Eat up, Tsuna!" Reborn said. Tsuna looked at his plate. Half of it was gone.

"WHAT!" Tsuna instantly turned his eyes on Reborn. His bowl looked suspiciously large. Tsuna picked up his chopsticks and took his scrambled eggs back from the kid.

"Dame-Tsuna! What are you doing to my eggs?" Reborn asked loudly. Tsuna opened his mouth to reply. "MAMA! Tsuna's stealing my food!" He yelled, nothing Tsuna has ever heard him so before. Nana turned around.

"Tsu-kun! What are you doing?" She said, hands on hips. Tsuna's arm froze. His chopsticks were in the air between his plate and Reborn's. It looked like he was stealing Reborn's food.

"I'm not stealing his food! He stole from me and I'm just taking it back!" He said.

"Tsu-kun! You're both growing boys! If you wanted more, ask me. Don't steal from Reborn-kun," she lectured.

"Wh-What? But mom!" Tsuna said.

"No buts!" She turned back around and gave Reborn another serving. Tsuna's eyes widened.

"He's the one stealing my food!" He complained.

"Not another word, young man!" Nana said. Reborn smirked.

"Grrr..." Tsuna muttered. He was forced to "give back" the food he took from him.

"_Too bad, Dame-Tsuna," _Reborn said in Italian. He sipped from his espresso._ "We're going to meet near the ticket stand at nine o'clock," _Reborn said.

"Eight o'clock?" Tsuna yelped. "That's too early!" Reborn kicked him.

"I said nine, Dame-Tsuna. For that, you'll be counting numbers up to a thousand starting now!"

"Reborn," Tsuna whined. His tutor stared at him with blank eyes.

"I would have thought you'll get your numbers easily since you know Vongomon Script but _no, _you take forever to learn simple Italian. Now, Tsuna. Start counting before I shoot you."

"_Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque..." _He began to count. He _continued _to count as he went back to his room to change, then out the door with his mother, Bianchi, Fuuta, I-pin, Lambo, and of course: Reborn.

"_Novecento novantasette, novecento novantotto, novecento novanta, mille!" _Tsuna counted just as they reached the ticket stand. Ryohei, Yamamoto and Gokudera were already there. Gokudera was acting as usually, this time ignoring the Rain Guardian.

"Good morning!' Tsuna waved. Reborn pinched his ear. "Ow—I mean _good morning..." _He said in Italian.

"_Better," _Reborn said.

"_Buon giorno, Decimo!" _Gokudera returned the greeting with a smile showing all his teeth.

"Yo, Tsuna!" Yamamoto grinned.

"SAWADA! WE'LL HAVE FUN TO THE _EXTREME!" _

"Eh? Where's Kyoko?" Tsuna asked.

"She and some friends went to the bakery! Then they'll go to shopping, and a lot of other things. She won't be here today." Tsuna was bitter with disappointment.

"Where is everyone else?" Reborn asked.

"_Mukuro and the girl already went to get on the rollercoaster. Apparently, Mukuro wants her to learn which way is up and down so she wouldn't confuse herself in her own illusions or something along those lines," _Gokudera answered. All Tsuna understood was that Mukuro and Chrome went on the rollercoaster Gokudera was pointing at. He looked up, and up, and up, and _up._

"Whaa!" Fuuta cried. "That's the number one scary rollercoaster because of its height and loops!"

"Kufufufufu. Ranking Fuuta is correct," Mukuro said. He and Chrome were approaching them. Fuuta hid behind Tsuna. Chrome looked slightly red but other than that, she was fine.

"D-Didn't you get sick?" Tsuna asked them nervously. He was sure that his guts would be spilled out if he went on that.

"Kufufufu. It'd be a shame to call yourself an illusionist if you get dizzy on _that." _Mukuro sounded offended. Chrome bowed.

"Good morning, Boss."

"Morning..."

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," a cold voice said. Tsuna slowly turned around, fearing what he would see. Hibari.

"H-Hibari-san!" He sqeaked.

"Fight me. Now."

"N-n-n-n-_now_?"

"J-Judaime!" Gokudera shouted. He pointed at I-pin.

"HIIIE!" I-pin's bomb was activated. She clung onto Lambo.

"AAH! BAKA I-PIN, GET OFF _ME! _I DON'T WANNA DIE! TSUNA! HELP ME!" Lambo ran and clutched onto fistfuls of Tsuna's pants.

"_HIIIIE! NO GET OFF ME!" _He said in a panic. He ran around, kicking his leg in the air trying to get Lambo to release him. Finally, Lambo flew off...into Hibari. Instincively, Hibari hit the babies with a tonfa and they flew into the air. He turned to the brunet.

"Fight me."

"H-Hibari-BOOM!"

"AAAH!" Lambo cried as he came back down. Nana gasped.

"Did Lambo-kun get caught in fireworks?"

"L-Lambo!" Tsuna yelped. If he came crashing down at that height, he'd surely die. He raised his arm and moved around, ready to catch the baby cow.

"Got'cha!" He held a crying Lambo in his arms. His hair was slightly burnt here and there, making is even puffier. His face also had some red spots. Reborn kicked Tsuna.

"Don't try to help him," Reborn said.

"THAT WAS SOME EXTREME FLYING, KID!" Ryohei approved. Yamamoto laughed.

"WHHHAA!"

"Mama, I think Lambo needs to have some candy to calm down," Reborn commented. Nana agreed.

"Come on, I-pin, Fuuta. Let's go get ice cream!"

Fuuta turned to Tsuna.

"Have fun, Tsuna-nii!" He raced after Nana.

* * *

><p><em>CHIK!<em>

Kenshin sighed. The listening device in the boy's hair was destroyed by that mysterious exploding baby.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

><p>"Hibari, Dame-Tsuna will fight you later in the mountains at six o'clock," Reborn said.<p>

"...He better arrive, or I'll bite him to death the next time I see him." Hibari hid his tonfas and swiftly left the area.

"Tsuna-kun!" He turned around. The Shimon Family was arriving.

"Good morning!"

"So what did you call us all the way here for?" Adelheid asked Tsuna.

"Reborn called us over, not me," he said and looked at the baby currently eating a cotton candy.

"_HIIE! _Reborn, where did you get that?" Tsuna asked.

"The lady over there gave it to me," Reborn said and took another bite. Tsuna noticed a cotton candy stall and the owner had her hands up in the air, shouting at everyone.

"Where'd that baby go? He just took one of my biggest cotton candies!" She was raving mad.

"HIIIIE!" Tsuna hid behind the ticket booth. "You don't go stealing things from people, Reborn!"

"She put it right in front of me. I thought she was giving it for free, so I took it."

"You're impossible," Tsuna sighed.

"Anyways," Reborn said. "We're going to have some fun today. The detective is already here. Let's play a prank on him."

"Oya? I like the sound of that," Mukuro said.

"What's the prank?" Aoba asked excitedly. Reborn held up two fingers.

"Double Tsunas." They blinked.

"Two...of...me?" Tsuna's brows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"You're the main target the detective is investigating. We'll confuse him with two of you. He'll think he's gone crazy. It will be fun to watch."

"Sounds interesting," Julie said. "Who's going to be the double?"

"The double is someone who is just like Dame-Tsuna, obviously. Someone who is at the bottom of his classes, sucks at atheletics, trips over his own two feet, doesn't understand things when it's told first, mumbles under his breath, did I mention clumsy? Oh yes. The person also has to be an idiot. Someone who is _exactly _like Dame-Tsuna. Even in the mafia world."

They all looked at Enma. He took a step back, red eyes nervous.

"M-me?" He asked. "B-but!"

"He _is _a strong boss," Gokudera muttered.

"Although he doesn't have the sky flame, he's the leader of his family," Mukuro mused. "Kufufufuffu."

"He's Dame-Enma, so he'll do. Thanks for voting," Reborn said.

"We didn't vote!" Enma and Tsuna said in unison. They looked at each other.

"You see? That's it. Okay, Enma. Here's another set of clothing for you to change into. You can do that in the public washrooms."

"But my face and voice aren't the same as Tsuna-kun's," Enma pointed out.

"That's where Mukuro and Chrome come in," Reborn said.

"Kufufufu, so I get to help with this as well?" Mukuro asked. His trident materialised into his hand. His mismatched eyes twinkled.

"Yes. Make an illusion so his voice and face is exactly like Tsuna's."

"Kufuffu, this will be interesting." They all surrounded the two bosses. They saw a thin layer of mist surround Enma. A moment later, is dispersed and there stood a Tsuna look-a-like in Enma's clothing.

"E-Enma...?" Tsuna said.

"T-Tsuna-kun?" He said and gasped. His voice was exactly the same as his friend's.

Reborn grinned. "Now all we need to deal with are the clothing. And this as well." He showed him a pair of red headphones that looked exactly like the ones Tsuna uses in Hyper Mode.

"What are those for?" Enma asked. Tsuna was _not _used to seeing his mirrored image speak.

_Is that how I really look? _He thought.

"It's so that we can communicate and I can give you orders on where to go. The other Guardians should also have theirs," Reborn looked at them. Tsuna's present Guardians held out their own small devices. Chrome had the one she used in the future in her bag, which left Mukuro empty handed. Reborn tossed the convict a new one.

"They should all work. Here, Shimon. These are yours." He threw Adelheid a plastic bag. She handed them out.

"Alright," Reborn said. He had headphones placed over his ears and an extended microphone right by his mouth.

"Does everybody hear me loud and clear?" He asked into the mic. They nodded. "Gokdera and Shittopi-chan will be in the shooting stalls."

"But Reborn-san!" Gokudera said. "Shouldn't I be with Juudaime?"

"I have everything planned out. Don't ruin it. Ryohei and Aoba will be in the boxing arena. I heard they're letting people into the ring if they win a pie eating contest.

"I'LL BE THERE TO THE EXTREME! COME ON, GREEN LEAVES OF SPRING!" Ryohei yelled.

"Stop calling me that!" Aoba screamed back. The rest of them winced. This was also going through the communications.

"Could the two of you argue quietly?" Gokudera yelled. They winced again. Reborn gave them a warning shot.

"Shut up," he ordered with his fedora hat shadowing his eyes. "This is an operation. At least act like Guardians." They quieted.

"The next pair: Rauji would have been with Lambo, but as you can see the kid is a nuisance and will ruin the entire thing. Rauji will go with Adelheid since Hibari wouldn't be participating. The two of you will go to the gift shop as workers."

"How will we do _that?" _Adelheid demanded. "They'll call the security if we try." Reborn smirked.

"Did you notice the name of the shop?" They looked around until the spotted it.

"_Vongola _Gift Shop?" Tsuna read out.

"You'll be able to go there are part-time workers. I'm warning you, if they don't make a profit..." His gun gleamed in the sunlight. "Kaoru and Yamamoto will go to the sports section and do whatever they want." Yamamoto laughed.

"That sounds good! Right, Kaoru?" Kaoru smiled slightly.

"Then Julie will be with Chrome." Julie smiled mischievously. Chrome blushed and hid behind Mukuro. Mukuro looked at Julie.

"It's alright, Nagi. He's not possessed." Chrome nodded shyly. "But," he lifted his trident so its tip dug into Julie's neck. "If you do anything to her..." Julie looked back at him.

"M-Mukuro...I don't think that's a good idea!" Tsuna said slowly.

"Julie..." Enma said cautiously. Julie nodded.

"I'll keep my hands to myself then." Mukuro kept the blade there for another second and lowered it.

"Mukuro will be invisible to us all." Reborn said. "Dame-Tsuna and Enma will go to the public washrooms now; Mukuro, lower Enma's disguise until he's in a stall." Mukuro nodded and Enma's face came back.

"Everyone know what they're doing?" They nodded.

"Good. Operation Double: Start!" Reborn said. They scattered. Mukuro turned into mist a second before the circle broke.

"Kufuffu. This will be good entertainment."

The hair on Tsuna's back tingled as he felt Mukuro's presence near them.

"M-Mukuro, can you stop staring?" He muttered under his breath.

"Kufufu. Fine."

* * *

><p>Kenshin saw Tsuna and Enma enter the men's washrooms. "They all separated so neatly. Aren't they going to hang out as a <em>group?" <em>He wondered out loud.

Enma and Tsuna were out of sight.

"Now, Mukuro," Reborn said. He was in one of his hiding spots watching every move the Guardians made.

"_Kuufufu, you don't need to tell me a second time."_ He changed Enma's face so it was a mirror image of the real Tsuna.

Five minutes later, Enma said, _"I'm done changing."_

"Mukuro, make an illuision of the real Enma in his own clothes walk out of there." He saw it happen. The illusions were so real it fooled the cameras. Illusion Enma merged into a nearby crowed.

"Release it," Reborn said. "Enma, walk out of the stall and towards the cotton candy store. Buy some if you want."

"_Right,"_ Enma said. Reborn watched Kenshin's eyes follow Enma. Then he noticed the shooting range that was right across from the cotton candy.

"Enma, after you buy the cotton candy, wait until you hear Gokudera before going into the hat shop. Make your way to the fedora section; Kenshin won't see you there. Got it?"

"_Got it," _was Enma's reply. He plucked off some cotton candy and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Gokudera, you and Shittopi-chan have to make the loudest distraction you can. Anything will do."

"_Roger!" _

Gokudera nodded at Shittopi-chan. _The baby wants a distraction? _She thought. _So that means Gokudera needs to be really loud and attract everyone's attention... _She shot at Gokudera's head. Everyone looked at them.

"S-sir..." the owner said slowly, "are you okay?"

"Sorry about that," Shittopi-chan said mildly. "I hope your head's not hurting too much."

"WOMAN!" Gokudera growled loudly. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? YOUR AIM SUCKS! GO PRACTICE AT HOME BEFORE TRYING TO SHOOT TARGETS!" He roared. He climbed over the table and glared at Shittopi-chan. He raised his toy gun directly at the Shimon Guardian. A crowed was forming. He shot at her but she dodged. It hit the bystander behind her.

"Ow!" The man said. "Watch it, kid!" He yelled. The man was muscular and had many tattoos on his arms and face.

"Who are you calling a kid, bastard!" Gokudera yelled.

"What? Do you know who you're talking to here?" The man roared.

Gokudera shot at the man with deadly accuracy.

"You bastard!" the man screamed. He threw a punch at Gokudera. He ducked and took out dynamites.

"Che. You're wasting my time."

BOOM!

The stall exploded though there were no casualties. Reborn noticed that Kenshin was watching the brawl.

"Enma, go!" Reborn said. "Tsuna, go to the bench Kenshin's sitting on. Stand behind him."

"_Right-o!" _

Kenshin was only distracted for a second but Tsuna was gone. Then a voice said behind him, "Kenshin-san! I didn't know you were here!" Tsuna said. Kenshin jumped in his seat.

"T-Tsuna?"

"Hello!" Tsuna smiled. _What on Earth is Reborn planning? _He thought.

_Wasn't he getting cotton candy a moment ago? _Kenshin thought. _A look-a-like? No, they were wearing the same clothes and their faces were the same._

"Hello, Tsuna-kun," Kenshin said. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine," Tsuna said, repeating what Reborn said in his headphones. "Have you seen my friends?"

"Uh...yeah...one of them is there...and the others went that way..." He pointed to different directions.

"Thanks!" Reborn told him to smile and wave. He did so.

"Go to Gokudera," Reborn ordered.

"I'll be going now. See you later!" Tsuna ran. Kenshin's eyes followed him for a moment.

"Enma, go to Julie. They're outside the magic stall." Enma obeyed. He had finished his cotton candy a moment ago and now he threw it in the trash bin.

Kenshin's head faced the front. He was confused. First, Tsuna was in front of him. Then he appeared _behind _him. Now, he was seeing Tsuna talking to Chrome and another man, laughing.

"Julie, Chrome and Enma: laugh now," Reborn said.

"_Is the plan working?"_ Tsuna asked. Reborn smirked. "He's already a bit confused because he saw you behind him instead of in front."

Kenshin got up to follow Enma. He stopped at the gift shop across from them and purchased a good luck charm while watching the three.

"Enma, Julie and Chrome, walk towards the boxing ring. There's a big crowd. Get lost."

Kenshin was a good six metres behind them. He saw them slowly make their way to the front. "I didn't know he was interested in boxing," he said. Soon, he lost them. He started to move into the crowd.

"Tsuna! Talk to Kenshin. Repeat what I say." Tsuna rushed to get behind the detective. "Gokudera and Shittopi-chan, follow Tsuna. But stay out of sight."

"_Hai, Reborn-san!" _Gokudera wondered how Shittopi-chan would fit in, with the two balloons around her and all. Reborn must have been thinking the same thing.

"Mukuro, make Shittopi's balloons invisible," Reborn ordered.

"_Kufufufu." _It was done.

"Reborn, what do I say?" Tsuna was two metres away from the detective who was trying to break into the crowd to look for Enma.

"Kenshin-san, I didn't know you were interested in boxing," a voice said behind him. He looked down. There was Tsuna.

"Tsuna-kun? Didn't you already go through?" He asked. Tsuna sported a puzzled look. He spoke a moment later.

"No, I was going to get through because Onii-san will be boxing. I just arrived."

"Oh..." Kenshin's eyebrows knitted together. Something was wrong with him today. He's seeing doubles!

"Onii-san is really good at boxing," Tsuna continued. "Let's go to the front!" Without another word, he began to drag the detective through. "Excuse me, pardon me," Tsuna said. _Why am I even doing this again? _Tsuna thought to himself.

Soon, they were at the front. Ryohei and Aoba were just finishing their pie eating contests.

"AND THE FIRST TWO PEOPLE TO FINISH EATING ARE...SASAWAGA RYOHEI AND AOBA KOYO!" The commentary shouted through a microphone.

"Cheer, Dame-Tsuna!" Reborn ordered.

"G-Go Onii-san!" Tsuna shouted waving both arms.

"Gokudera, you cheer as well."

"Don't lose, Turf-Top!" Gokudera yelled from the far left of the crowd.

"Did everyone gather here to watch their fight?" Kenshin asked.

"...What do you mean?" Tsuna asked, repeating word for word what Reborn said. Kenshin pointed.

"Gokudera is right there." Tsuna looked.

"Act surprised and wave at Gokudera," Reborn said.

"Gokduera-kun! Hey!" Tsuna waved.

"Gokudera, look surprised and make your way to Tsuna. Greet him and start watching."

"Juudaime! You came to watch them as well? I thought you were with the baseball freak!"

"No, I wanted to cheer them on."

"Shittopi-chan, say that you think Aoba is going to win."

"Aoba is obviously stronger than the Sun Guardian. He'll win for sure," Shittopi-chan said.

"What!" Gokudera yelled automatically although it wasn't in the script. Shittopi-chan said "sun guardian" which meant she was saying Tsuna's guardian wasn't as good as Enma's. "Turf-Top's going to win big time!" He roared. "And I haven't forgiven you for shooting at my head, you know!"

"Tsuna, calm them down right now!"

"Everyone! We'll see who wins! Look—it's starting! Go Onii-san!" Tsuna blurted out and cheered again.

"DON'T YOU DARE LOOSE, TURF-TOP!" Gokudera yelled over the noise of the crowd.

"Don't worry, Octopus-Head!" Ryohei replied just as loud. The bell dinged and the game was on.

Two minutes later, Reborn said, "Tsuna! Get away from the crowd. Go to Yamamoto. Enma, start yelling encouragements! Make sure you call Ryohei "onii-san!"

"_Okay," _they both said. Tsuna silently slipped out of the crowd while Kenshin was observing the boxers. He didn't notice Tsuna leaving.

"Mukuro, make illusions of Tsuna, Gokudera, and Shittopi-chan. Make them talk, cheer, whatever."

"_Kufufufu. Alright."_

"Juudaime, you should go fight after!" Illusion Gokudera said.

"Fight the man right next to you," Illusion Shittopi-chan said. Illusion Gokudera glared. "I will not go against Juudaime! He should fight Nori!" Illusion Gokudera pointed a finger at Kenshin who said, "No thanks! I'm not good at boxing," he said waving both hands.

"Me neither, Gokudera-kun!" Illusion Tsuna laughed. They quieted down.

Kenshin looked into the ring. Then yelling caught his attention right across from him.

"GO ONII-SAN!" Enma yelled loudly. Kenshin's eyes widened.

"Mukuro, release."

He looked to his right. Gokudera and Shittopis-chan were gone. Across the ring, he saw Tsuna, Julie, Chrome, Gokudera, and Shittopi-chan.

_What the hell?_

Another minute passed and the judge declared it as a tie.

"What? I obviously won!" Aoba argued.

"NO, I WON TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei objected.

They settled the argument by splitting the prize.

"The next round will begin in half an hour!" The commentary yelled. "Until then, enjoy your time at the carnival!"

The crowed lessened and they were all gone.

Kenshin continued to follow Tsuna and Enma, not knowing that they switched from time to time, seeing a "Tsuna" any which way he turned. Two hours later, he just _had_ to sit down.

"Kenshin-san!" He turned around. Tsuna was there. He groaned inwardly.

"Enma, ask him if he'll go on a rollercoaster with you," Reborn said.

"Will you go on a rollercoaster with me?" Enma asked the detective.

"Er...sure..." They began walking. Enma said silently, "Reborn-san, I'm not good with the rollercoaster."

"Do you vomit for faint?"

"_No...I just don't like them," _Enma said.

"Then it's fine. You know, you're exactly like Dame-Tsuna. Are you sure you aren't his long lost twin?"

"_..."_

They reached the bottom of the largest rollercoaster.

"Aoba, Ryohei, go with Kenshin onto the rollercoaster," Reborn ordered.

"_Roger!" _They said.

"SAWADA! WE'RE HERE TO JOIN YOU TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei roared.

"Ah, okay!" Enma said. "Congratulations, Aoba-san, Onii-san," he repeated Reborn's words.

They lined up to go on the rollercoaster.

The four of them paired off and got into the carts. When the rollercoaster reached its peak point, they could see everything. Kenshin thought he saw Tsuna talking to Yamamoto in the sports shop, but Tsuna was right beside him... his next thought flew out of his mind as they fell and looped and looped and climbed and looped the tracks. They all ended up screaming their hearts out.

Once they got off, Kenshin's head was spinning so much he had to lean on a pole.

"Enma, make your way to the magic shop to your left. Inside, you should find Julie and Chrome. They have a drink that can clear your head in an instant. Aoba, Ryohei, go for another spin on the rollercoaster."

Enma stumbled his way to the magic shop like a drunk. _I'm not getting on another rollercoaster again, _he thought groggily. Before he fell, Julie caught him. He heard him tsk.

"Emna, you can't even go on _that _puny thing?" Julie asked.

"That's not small...that's big..." Enma said. Chrome held a cup to his lips.

"This will help," she said softly. He drank.

* * *

><p>Just as the three of them left, Kenshin raised his head.<p>

"Huh? They're all gone...?" Then he saw Tsuna talking to Yamamoto to his right far away. "How did he get there so quickly?" He wondered.

"Kenshin-san, are you alright?" Tsuna asked. Kenshin jumped. Tsuna was beside him.

"T-Tsuna-kun?" Kenshin said. _But he was just talking to Yamamoto! _He rubbed his temples thinking that it must have been the ride that made him see things.

"Kenshin-san, are you alright?" Enma asked.

"Y-Yeah...I'm fine."

Reborn smirked.

"Well, I'll be going now. Bye, Kenshin-san!" Enma waved and jogged towards the public washrooms.

"Tsuna, you can come out from your hiding place now." Tsuna stood up. He was crouching behind a large sign when Reborn suddenly told him to hide.

"_What's going on now?" _He asked.

"Operation Double will be coming to an end. I think we've confused Kenshin enough for the day. Enma is getting changed. Mukuro, you can release the illusion."

"_Kufufufu. Baby. I want to confuse the detective more."_

"Then do it by yourself. The Operation Double will not be part of it. We'll be leaving now. Tsuna, Yamamoto, Gokudera, stay where you are."

"_Kufufufu. Fine."_

"_Hai," _the others replied.

"_Awe, that's no fun!" _Julie sighed. _"It's too early to call quits!"_

Reborn ignored him. He noticed that Enma was coming out of the washroom. "Tsuna, tell the detective that we're leaving the park now."

"_Eh? Now? But I'm supposed to be in the washroom," _Tsuna said. He thought that his question was reasonable, but apparently it wasn't.

"Dame-Tsuna, do as you're told. This is our farewell present for him. A few hours ago, he saw an Enma walk away but now he's seeing another Enma walk out. Now, he'll see you outside the washroom when you should still be in there. Don't make me explain everything! Now, do it _now." _Tsuna gulped and did as he was told. Kenshin was indeed shocked to see Tsuna beside him.

"Kenshin-san, we'll be leaving now. We hope you enjoyed your day!" Tsuna bowed slightly. He went towards his mother and the kids who just arrived at the entrance of the amusement park. Behind him walked his and Enma's Guardians. They were quite a sight.

* * *

><p>Reborn rode on Tsuna's head on their way home. <em>"Tsuna, don't forget you have an appointment with Hibari at six o'clock," <em>he said. Tsuna stiffened for a moment. Not, because of Hibari—he already knew he would be bitten to death—but because of an unfamiliar intense killing aura that did _not _belong to the school prefect. He continued to walk, but was even more alert now. So was everyone else. Even Lambo was a bit shaken up. He didn't know what was going on, but he was scared alright.

"M-Mama! I'm scared," he huddled closer to her. Bianchi made no move to hide her displeasure of the sudden dark and cold atmosphere. I-pin and Fuuta looked just as scared as Lambo but they didn't make it as obvious.

"Eh? Why is Lambo-kun scared?" Nana asked. Lambo simply whined.

"Maybe he wouldn't be scared once we get home," Tsuna guessed. He stretched out his arms. "Come on, Lambo. Kaa-san must be getting tired of carrying you." Lambo instantly jumped into Tsuna's protective arms. "Don't worry, Lambo. We'll protect you," Tsuna whispered into the young Guardian's ear. Lambo gave him a shaky nod.

They quickened their pace home. As they reached the door, the aura faded. Tsuna looked around them, but there was nothing to see. Nana said something about lunch and entered the kitchen.

"Are you all staying for lunch?" Tsuna asked. Enma and his Guardians nodded.

Gokudera gestured towards the Vongola Guardians and said, "We need to set up patrols. We can't let our guard down now that they've technically told us they're watching you!" Then he looked at the cow baby who just began to regain this cockiness. "We can't leave you alone with just the stupid cow to guard you either."

"Does that mean we'll be staying for the night?" Yamamoto wondered.

"A slumber party?" Enma asked.

"EXTREME! LET'S CALL EVERYONE!" Ryohei yelled.

"HIIIIIE! No, not _everyone! _I don't want Hibari-san and Mukuro in my house again!" Tsuna shrieked, and then looked at Chrome. "I didn't mean to be rude, but you of all people should understand what I mean." She nodded.

"Another party?" Lambo asked. "YAHAA! PARTY!" He laughed and screamed. He untangled himself from Tsuna's arms and ran to I-pin to tell her about it.

"We _aren't_ having another party!" Tsuna cried.

"Why not?" Reborn asked. Tsuna's eyes rolled up in an attempt to look at the baby.

"Well, first off, you must be planning something," Reborn's eyes had a familiar glint to them. Tsuna continued, "and it's going to end up as a disaster because there are so many people who know how to fight under the same roof," he looked at his friends, "and we'll be disturbing Kaa-san," he pointed to the kitchen, where a humming Nana was preparing a tasty lunch for them.

"What makes you say that I'm planning something?" Reborn asked innocently.

"It's written all over your face!" Tsuna half hissed and screamed. Reborn slapped his face _hard. _

"Anyways, Mama wouldn't mind as long as we play quietly. Since there's going to be a lot of people, how about we all sleep in the living room? It's very cozy."

"Why do you even bother asking?" Tsuna mumbled. "You only do what _you _want." Reborn smirked.

"That's true. As expected from my student. Call Dino over as well. This will be fun."

"What about Kyoko and Haru?" Ryohei asked.

"Are we inviting them as well?"

"If you want," Reborn said. "We'll be playing games the whole night. Just get ready for bed at home and then come over. And make sure you finish your homework first, Dame-Tsuna. I know you have a page due on Tuesday."

"ALRIGHT! EXTREMELY AWESOME PARTY TONIGHT!" Ryohei roared.

Tsuna slapped his hands to his face, forgetting his cheeks were still painfully red from Reborn's slap.

"Ow..." Then Lambo suddenly charged back towards them, who were still gathered by the doorway.

"BAKA TSUNA! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Lambo screamed. An angry I-pin was behind him.

"Ah!" Tsuna looked frightened. Enma just frowned. Then Lambo produced a pink grenade.

"_HIIIIIE! _Lambo, don't let that go off here!" Tsuna exclaimed. But of course, Lambo didn't listen. He threw it behind him but I-pin hit it back with a hand. She bit into a Gyoza bun. "Gyoza Fist!" I-pin said and hurled Lambo forwards into the unlucky brunet. Reborn was already long gone.

"_HIIIIE!" _

_BOOOOM!_

The two bosses were the ones who suffered the most damage. Their clothing was yet again cut in various places because of the broken shards from the vase sitting on the small table.

"Lambo, look what you've done! That was mom's favourite vase!" Tsuna said.

"STUPID COW! HOW DARE YOU HURT JUUDAIME!" Gokduera was being held back by a laughing Yamamoto.

"Calm down, Gokudera! No one's hurt, right?"

"Th-That's right, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said. "We're fine." He looked at Enma for confirmation.

"Enma! Are you alright?" Adelheid asked. He nodded, telling them he was also unharmed.

"Your Lightning Guardian doesn't know how to control himself!" Aoba said hotly. "He's a baby! Why does he even have the ring _now?" _He demanded.

"We're all fine, so stop yelling," Julie said, rubbing his palms against both ears, "you're really loud." He made his way to the yard through living room.

"What!" Aoba followed him. Tsuna sighed and began to clean everything up. He'll have to apologise to his mother later.

"Eh? What's this?" He picked up a small cracked, black bead the size of his finger nail. _Another listening device, _Tsuna thought. He had just remembered that there was one hidden in it.

"Juudaime?" Gokudera knelt beside him.

"Look, Lambo just destroyed another one of Kenshin-san's bugs," Tsuna said. Gokudera snorted.

"I'm surprised the stupid cow isn't taking out the bazooka to hide his embarrassment yet," he said. Tsuna had to laugh at this.

* * *

><p>After lunch, the Shimon Family went home to pack night shirts and other necessities. Reborn subsequently gave Tsuna, Yamamoto, Ryohei, and Chrome Italian Lessons: Special Edition.<p>

"_Special Edition?" _Tsuna repeated, brown eyes narrowing. "How is this going to be special?" They were currently inside his room with the door closed. Gokudera sat beside Reborn as assistant.

"There are penalties for when you get something wrong," Reborn explained and pointed to various sections of the room. Yamamoto laughed.

"Hey, kid! You surrounded us with fireworks?" Tsuna EEP'd and saw piles of dynamites surrounding each of them.

"I'm sorry, Juudaime! I was against it, but Reborn-san said as your tutor, I had to obey him! I'm sorry!" Gokudera hit his forehead against the floor five times before Tsuna managed to convince him to stop.

"I just need to answer correctly right?"

"Indeed," Reborn said. "But let's see how you can manage that."

"THIS IS _EXTREME!"_

"Boss...what's going on?" Chrome asked from Tsuna's left side.

"I-I don't know!"

"We will now start! There will be no cheating."

Tsuna groaned.

"_First question goes to Chrome," _Reborn said in Italian. Then something hit Tsuna. Chrome hasn't had Italian lessons with them before! She must be a complete newbie!

"Wait, Reborn—!" A bomb exploded overhead.

"_Rule one: No interruptions allowed." _Reborn had a remote controller in his hand. In the other, he held cards with the questions.

"_Mist Guardian: what is the phrase you will use to answer the phone in Italian? You have ten seconds starting now."_

_The phrase you use when you pick up the phone... _Tsuna understood the question, but had no idea what the answer was.

"Um..." Chrome said. The clock in front of Reborn showed the countdown. Five, four, three—

"Is it... _Pronto?"_

"_Correct." _

"Wah! Chrome-chan knows Italian? Amazing!" Yamamoto laughed.

"I know a little," Chrome said quietly.

"_Next. Vongola Boss: _ _How do you order a large group of people to shut up?" _Tsuna leaned backwards.

"H-Heeeh? I-I don't know!" The dynamite to his right exploded. "_HIIIEEE!" _

"THAT WAS EXTREME!" Ryohei said from Tsuna's right. Tsuna knocked a knuckled on his cast. _Phew. This saved me from most of the burns. _But his head began to spin with dizziness.

"_Rule two: You must answer in Italian," _Reborn ordered.

"_I don't know..." _Tsuna said. The bomb strapped to his back went off. _"GGHAAAAAKK! SINCE WHEN WAS THERE A BOMB ON ME?" _He collapsed.

"T-Tsuna! Oi, Tsuna!"

"B-Boss, you okay?" Tsuna groaned softly. His back was stinging.

"I didn't use real dynamites. If I did, you'll be dead already," Reborn informed his student. "The worse they can do to you is a cause of small burns. Now get up." Tsuna sat up, his legs under him.

"_The correct answer was to just tell them to shut up," _Reborn said. _"Any boss can make his subordinates listen to him if he is any kind of boss." _

"That's it?"

"I'm not warning you a second time. Do-not-inturrupt. _Sun Guardian: What is the Italian equivalent to _Good Night_?"_

"AAARRG! THIS IS A TOUGH ONE!" Ryohei said and crossed his arms. "I need to think about it."

...

"_You have seven seconds," _Reborn said.

"Hmm...before I go to bed, I tell them, GOOD NIGHT TO THE EXTREME!" Tsuna sweat dropped. "I know how to say _TO THE EXTREME_! In Italian," he muttered. "But how do you say good night? Hm..."

"_You have four seconds, Ryohei," _Reborn said.

"I know what it is!" Tsuna jumped at his sudden scream. "IT'S _BUONA SERA!"_

BOOM! Ryohei instinctively punched the bomb aside. Gokudera's eyes widened as it landed by his feet.

BOOOM! Once the smoke cleared, they saw a dishevelled Gokudera. He glared at Ryoheim but did nothing else because of Reborn's orders.

"_That is incorrect. Buona Sera means 'good evening'. The correct answer is 'buona notte', which means good night."_

"Mmm..." Ryohei nodded thoughtfully. Yamamoto laughed. Reborn looked at him.

"Don't start laughing yet, Yamamoto. You're next."

"Sure! Ahahah! But I've been studying some Italian during my spare time." Yamamoto had a serious look on his face.

_So Yamamoto practiced his own Italian? _Tsuna wondered.

"_Rain Guardian: how do you tell someone that it will be raining for the next two weeks in the afternoon?"_

Yamamoto answered confidently. Gokudera stared at him and his face _twitched. _

"Gokduera-kun...is something wrong?" Tsuna asked. Reborn's finger also twitched. _This_ twitch set off the dynamite.

"Sssss.." Yamamoto hissed when it hit him. When the pain settled down, he laughed. "Ahaha! I guess I got that one wrong!"

"Yamamoto, who helped you study Italian?" Reborn asked.

"Hm? You know, the doctor?" They looked at him blankly. "Um, what was his name...ah! Shamal! Doctor Shamal!" Yamamoto grinned. "He said that with his help, I'll learn Italian in no time."

"Forget everything he taught you," Reborn said. "Those perverted sentences will do you no good in life. No one will ever take you seriously."

"That perverted Shamal taught you _that?" _Gokudera looked ready to throw up.

"What did he say?" Tsuna asked,

"Juudaime...you don't want to know. It's too horrible to even say it outloud."

"It was something along the lines of doing something to a woman's body—sexually," Reborn said in a monotone. They stared at him.

"O-Okay...so I just need to forget everything he taught me?" Yamamoto said.

"Yup."

"R-Right..."

"Back to Chrome. _How do you introduce yourself to a total stranger?"_

"Um..." Chrome bit her lower lip cutely. She would never actually _go _and greet a stranger, but... _"Hello...it's nice to meet you...my name is Dokuro Chrome...?"_

"_Correct. Tsuna: How do you order someone to get a plane ready to fly to China?" _Reborn asks.

"Wait a second! Why are all my questions _orders?" _Tsuna shrieked.

"You're the boss. You need to learn how to order people around." Reborn said this as if it was obvious. "Well, do you have an answer? The clock's ticking."

"_HIIIIE! _U-Um... _c-c-could you h-have an...airplane prepared to go to...?" _Tsuna had _no idea _how to say China in Italian. Maybe it's the same as English? "_...China?_"

Reborn clicked another button. The dynamite to his left exploded. Tsuna winced. Reborn said they weren't real ones...but they seem to be just as deadly!

"_You stutter too much. No one would believe that you're the Famiglia's Boss. Also, China is Cina in Italian. We aren't learning English, you know."_

"Are you trying to kill us with those bombs?" Tsuna demanded. "They hurt!" Reborn shot a bullet just over his head. A few brown strands of hair fell to his lap. He gulped.

"Of course they hurt, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said.

"Juudaime! Are you alright?" Gokudera was worried.

"He's fine. Next, Ryohei!" Reborn went silent.

"_Zzzz..." _

"_He's SLEEPING?" _Tsuna whispered. Yamamoto laughed.

"Juudaime! Hang in there!"

"Oi, Tsuna!" Right after Reborn began his afternoon nap, Tsuna had fainted from exhaustion.

_The only person who wasn't hit by bombs was Chrome... _Tsuna thought as he drifted into unconsciousness. _That's not really fair, Mukuro... you must have taught her something..._

* * *

><p>The next time he awoke, it was five thirty. Tsuna blinked slowly. He was in his bed with the blanket over him. <em>Eh? How did I end up in my bed? <em>He thought. _Oh yeah. Reborn was giving a hellish Italian lesson... bombs flew everywhere...and then...Reborn fell asleep...eh? My room...it's a mess...all the bombs are destroyed...their hiding places are in shambles...including my bed... _He turned his head. There they were: the scorch marks left from Reborn's daily bombs when he didn't finish his homework, or didn't know how to answer a question. He looked further and saw the marks on the walls and ply wood floor from their "lesson" a while ago.

_What time is it? _He looked at his clock and his eyes were cleared of any sleepiness.

"HIBARI-SAN'S GOING TO KILL ME!" Tsuna screamed. The door flung open.

"Judaime! What's wrong?" Gokudera had his dynamite out and surveyed the room. When he realised that there were no enemies, he turned to the brunet.

"Juudaime, what's wrong?"

"I was supposed to meet Hibari in the mountains for a fight!" Tsuna exclaimed. He threw off the covers and looked at himself. Another set of clothing was ruined. He couldn't go out looking like this. He dashed to his closet to look for something to wear that wasn't abused by Reborn's training yet.

"Juudaime," Gokudera started.

"Not now, Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna interrupted he picked a white collared shirt.

"But Juudaime, I was telling you that Reborn-san said you don't—" Gokudera said.

"Tell me later, if I'm not bitten to death," Tsuna interrupted again. He was in the middle of pulling off his shirt and donning the fresh one. He was unbuckling his belt when Gokudera's words made sense.

"What were you just saying?" he asked. "Something about Reborn saying I don't...?"

"Reborn-san said you don't need to fight the prefect anymore since you're injured and can't fight unless you wanted to worsen the wound," Gokudera said. Tsuna blinked. His eyes widened.

"So you don't need to go," Gokudera said. Tsuna looked horrified.

"What's Hibari-san's cellphone number?" He asked suddenly.

"Eh?"

"What's his cellphone number?" Tsuna asked more panicked. He knew Hibari had a cellphone. He even knew the ringtone was their school anthem.

"Do you know his cellphone number?" Tsuna asked Gokudera. He was running down the stairs for the phone in the hall. Gokudera was right behind him.

"No, I don't know his number. What's wrong...Juudaime?"

"He's going to bite me to death if I go there and he'll bite me to death even more if I don't show up!"

"That's not good!" Gokudera called to Yamamoto. "Baseball freak! Do you know Hibari's phone number?"

"Why would I know that? Ahaha!" Yamamoto's voice came from the yard.

"Oh, no," Tsuna said. He ran for the door.

"Juudaime! Where are you going?" Gokudera asked.

"I hope he isn't there yet," Tsuna muttered to himself, loud enough for Gokudera to hear. "I'll try Nami-Middle first to see if he's still there. If he's not, I have to make my way to the training grounds in the mountains to find him."

"Juudaime! You can't go out on your own! It's dangerous!" Gokudera objected ferociously. "I won't let you go!"

"I have to unless you want me to die a very painful death later on!" Tsuna said so quickly he swore his tongue almost twisted. He finally had both shoes on and reached for the door. He opened it just to have it slammed shut by Gokudera and Yamamoto.

"Tsuna, you can't go outside when assassins are after you! I think that's why the kid told you not to go," Yamamoto said.

"Arg! Reborn should have told me earlier! If he knew I couldn't fight, why did he bother to tell Hibari-san I would?" Tsuna wailed. Reborn jumped on him from behind.

"Don't sound so embarrassing. I'm sure he'll understand," Reborn added as an afterthought, "after he's bitten you to death on Monday."

"HIIIIIE! No way!" Tsuna held his head, fingers going through soft brown hair, making it stick out even more. The door opened and they all turned around.

"Hahi! Tsuna-san! Did you come to greet me?" Haru asked. She had a bag slung on one shoulder.

"H-Haru?" She instantly hugged him as he looked behind her to see if there was anything out of place in the shadows.

"I'm so glad! Haru will be your future wife and will greet _you _when you come home!"

"_HIIIIE! NOT THAT AGAIN!"_

"Oi, you stupid woman! Get away from Juudaime!" Gokudera showed her his fist as Yamamoto held him back, laughing.

"Maa, maa! We can't start a fight in a slumber party, right?" He said. Haru fumed.

"Who are you calling a stupid woman? I'll have you know that Haru is _waaay _smarter than Gokudera!" She said.

"You'll never beat me!" Gokudera yelled.

"Fine! One on one! Whoever can't answer the question loses! Tsuna-san will be the prize!"

"EEEEH?" Tsuna exclaimed loudly. "I'm not going to be a prize!" He screamed. They didn't listen.

"I will never let you take my boss! You're on!" Gokudera growled.

The next thing happened so quickly, there were no words for it. Let's just describe how the situation _looks._

Haru and Gokudera were sitting on the opposite shorter ends of the table in the living room. In the middle of the table, there was a board, set to stop anyone from cheating. Tsuna sat between them on the long side, tied in red ribbons from head to toe. On his forehead was a bandana with the word _ULTIMATE_ _PRIZE _written on it. He had red and orange glitter on his face and in his hair. Confetti was everywhere. He blew a blue strip off his nose.

"Um, why am I decorated?" Tsuna asked meekly. Haru smiled her sweetest smile at him.

"Because Tsuna-san is the prize!" Was her answer. Tsuna heaved out a long sigh then looked at Gokudera.

"Gokudera-kun, how is this going to work?" He asked.

"Reborn-san offered to help. He is preparing a math question for us. We will answer it at the same time. Whoever finishes first and has the correct answer wins. If the person who finishes first doesn't have the right answer, then we have another round," Gokudera said flatly, staring daggers at Haru. Haru was not intimidated by him and glared right back.

"Alright, you two, this is the question." Reborn was dressed in his professor's disguise. He slipped a white sheet of paper in front of each person face down. "When I say go, you can flip it over and begin. Go." The pages were flipped and two pairs of eyes widened.

"This is—!" They both said as they stared at the question.

"W-What's wrong?" Tsuna asked. He looked at Gokudera's page. It was a simple looking equation, but it made no sense to him.

"Th-this equation..." Haru said.

"Is at the highest university levelled equation you can get..." Gokudera finished. Then he snapped out of his trance. "Don't worry, Juudaime! I will save you from this stupid woman!" He tied his silver hair back and put on his glasses. He picked up his pencil and began writing. Haru was just a beat behind him.

"_I _will win Tsuna-san! I'll be his future wife!" She too, began to write. For the next half hour, the only thing that could be heard in the room was the scratching of pencil on paper and the distant screams of Lambo in the yard playing with Yamamoto and Ryohei. Tsuna looked at their progress. Both seemed to be doing pretty well, using the scrap paper until half of the pile was gone. Then he looked at the clock.

_HIIIE! _He screamed silently in his head to not disturb them. He stared at Reborn and gestured wildly at the clock. Reborn noticed and jumped on his shoulder.

"What is it, Dame-Tsuna?"

"It's _six o'clock!" _He whispered. Reborn grinned.

"So?"

"Hibari-san's going to kill me the next time he sees me!" He whispered with a slight squeak.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Reborn said.

"...What...?"

"I already told Hibari to cancel the fight because you're injured, and if he _does _win against you, you weren't using your full power. I told him to fight you after the Luna Family is defeated."

Tsuna let out a sigh of relief. "Hang on... defeat the Luna Family? What do you mean by _defeat?" _Tsuna asked.

Reborn said, "Exactly what I mean. We have to make sure none of them will be able to come back and cause more trouble for the Vongola Family. We'll have to eliminate all of them."

"NO!" Tsuna growled loudly. The scratching stopped. Both Gokudera and Haru looked at him.

"Tsuna-san?"

"Juudaime?" He ignored them and stared at his tutor.

"I'm not killing anybody!" He said.

"We have to, or else they'll come back for you, and kill you. We have to kill them so that will never happen," Reborn said.

"I don't care," Tsuna's voice wavered slightly. "I'm not going to kill a single person."

"How do you expect to control the mafia with that kind of thinking?" Reborn asked. Before Tsuna could say anything, Reborn added, "They're going to kill _you. _And your Guardians are in the way, so they'll be killed first, and _then _you." Tsuna and Gokudera's facial expressions were filled with shock. Gokudera hadn't even thought about it that way.

"Juudaime! We will never let them hurt you! I won't let them; not even if I die!" Gokudera declared as he stood up. "I'll train even more! We'll _all_ train!" He stomped off towards the sliding doors and entered the backyard, stopping a ball that was going for his face.

"BASEBALL FREAK! TURF-TOP! WE'RE GOING TO TRAIN FOR BATTLE!" He yelled.

"_NOW_ YOU'RE TALKING!" Ryohei screamed back. "YOSH! LET'S TRAIN TO THE _EXTREME!"_

"_Let's do it!" _Yamamoto said. Gokudera slid the door back. Tsuna could see them in his lawn, discussing about how they should train.

"Boss, I think I will also improve my skills," Chrome said. She had suddenly appeared. "We won't let anything happen to you."

"Everyone..." he whispered.

"Great, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. "Now that you've gotten all your Guardians worked up, there will be no stopping them. If you aren't careful, they're going to become much stronger than you, and you'll become dead weight. After that arm of yours heals up, we'll be doing some extensive training."

"Hahi! Reborn-san, what do we do about the competition?" Haru asked. Reborn turned to her.

"Did you finish the question?" Haru showed him the piece of paper.

"Hm..." Reborn said. "You are correct." He looked at Gokudera's paper. He had apparently finished just as Tsuna caught his attention. "Gokudera is also correct."

"Hahi! Then what do we do now?"

"Gokudera's answer is more accurate, right down to the last digit. Gokudera wins."

"What? Really? Awe!" Haru's head drooped.

"I-It's okay...Haru," Tsuna said comfortingly. She sighed.

"I'm not a sore loser. Just wait until next time, Tsuna-san. Next time, I'll definitely win and become your official future wife!" Tsuna tried to back away but the ribbons acted like shackled.

"WHHAA!" He fell.

"Tsuna-san!" Haru crawled towards him. "What was Reborn-san talking about just now?" Haru asked.

"Nothing," Tsuna said. "He was talking nonsense. I have no idea what he's talking about."

"Don't try to lie to me, Tsuna-san," Haru lectured. She put herself in his way when he tried to get up. She pushed his shoulders back down. "What was Reborn-san talking about when he said Luna Family, and killing?"

Tsuna looked away.

"Tsuna-san!" Haru needed to know. They were in danger again and they're keeping them in the dark again.

"Nothing's the matter!" Tsuna said. He tore off the ribbons. "There's just, another family bothering us, that's all! And Reborn says we need to defeat them!"

"But he spoke of _killing _them," Haru put in quietly. Tsuna looked at her. His eyes softened.

"Sorry I got mad, Haru. I'm not going to kill anyone anytime soon. No one's made me _that _mad recently." Tsuna thought of Byakuran. He _thought _he killed the man, but then he turns up suddenly to help Yamamoto survive.

"Hmm..." Haru said. Then she tackled Tsuna.

"_HIIIEEE!" _They fell with Tsuna trying to keep his right arm out of the way.

"Thanks for telling Haru!" She said gleefully and got up. "I'll help your mother with the cooking. Kyoko-chan should be arriving soon."

"What? By herself?" Tsuna asked.

"She's coming with Basil-kun," Haru said. Tsuna calmed down.

"That's better..."

"Tsu-kun! Haru-chan! Could the two of you help me out?" Nana called.

"Hai!" They said simultaneously.


	7. Kings: Reborn's Version

**Chapter Seven**

Kenshin fell onto his bed clutching his head. After the Vongola Family left the park, he began to see strange things. Fruits were dancing around him. Tsuna was always talking about _something, _and then when he turns around, the brunet would be there. He counted and saw three of them at once, surrounding him. They spoke to him about different things at the same time. Then he saw snakes crawling around him, breathing out fire. The next moment, little kids were dragging him to go this way and that. Suddenly, they would disappear to be replaced by Gokudera, yelling at him then Tsuna would try to tell him to stop. Another Tsuna would be at his left the moment he looked away from his right, where Gokudera and Tsuna were. People looked at him as if he was going crazy.

* * *

><p>Kyoko arrived half an hour after Haru.<p>

"Hello!" Kyoko greeted the group.

"Sawada-dono! Thanks for inviting me!" He waved. Reborn, Iemitsu, Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto and Ryohei were playing Blackjack to pass the time while waiting for everyone to turn up.

"Welcome!" Tsuna said. "Sorry that this is so sudden. The idea just came out of nowhere."

"No, it's alright!" Kyoko said. "This will be fun!"

"Hahi! Kyoko-chan, you're finally here!" Haru said.

"Haru-chan!" Kyoko smiled. Haru rushed towards her and whispered something into her ear. At first she looked confused, and then she had a mischievous smile on her face. She nodded quickly and followed Haru into the kitchen.

"What are they doing?" Yamamoto asked.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Tsuna said.

"Che. This game is boring," Gokudera said. He threw down his cards. And won.

"Hahahahah! That's because you always win, Gokudera!" Yamamoto laughed.

"_HIIIIIEEE! _I forgot to buy drinks!" Tsuna remembered.

"I'm having them made right now," Reborn said. Iemitsu was collecting the cards to shuffle them. Tsuna looked at his tutor.

"Since when did you help me out?" He asked slowly.

"I'm not making them," Reborn said. "Haru and Kyoko are."

"Eeh? What drinks are they..._making?" _He asked. _I hope Bianchi isn't involved. _

"_You wouldn't know until the game starts," _Reborn said in Italian. Tsuna groaned.

"What's with the Italian?"

"I'm still counting how many words you say, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said. "We need you to be fluent in Italian." Tsuna blew out a breath.

"Reborn-san, what game are you talking about?" Gokudera asked. Reborn grinned.

"Kings." Gokudera's eyes widened.

"But Reborn-san, we're not supposed to drink," he said.

"We won't be drinking beer. I'm having them make our special drink right now."

"Um, what's King's?" Tsuna and Yamamoto asked.

"It's a game I played with my target and his friends before I killed him," Reborn told them flatly. "I found it pretty interesting. I have my own version of it I play with the mafia once in a while."

"I _really _don't want to play that game then," Tsuna said.

"Everyone is playing. You aren't allowed to not play. If you don't then I'm tying your foot to your ear to the rest of the night," Reborn said.

"_Hiiiiiiiee! _No way!" Tsuna cried.

"HAHA! Tsuna, just play! It'll be fun!" Iemitsu slapped his son hard on the back.

"I'M READY FOR THIS TO THE _EXTREME!" _Ryohei screamed.

Yamamoto laughed. "Sounds like an interesting game!"

"How do you play?" Tsuna asked.

"I'll read out my rules once everyone is here. They probably have their own versions of the game, but we'll be playing with _my _rules."

"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Tsuna aked himself.

"REBORN! PREPARE TO DIE!" Lambo screamed. Tsuna also screamed.

"LAMBO! Stop taking out your grenades!" Reborn side-stepped the baby and he went tumbling. His ten year bazooka came flying out.

"Eh?" Lambo looked up. Then he was shot by it.

POOF! Pink smoke covered their vision.

"Yare, yare, I'm back in the past again," Adult Lambo said. "Yo, Young Vongola."

"Adult Lambo!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"What are you all up to this time?" Lambo asked absentmindedly. One of his eyes was closed and he was wearing a suit. Different from his usual casual one with cow prints on the white shirt. This was an actual formal one, with a clean ironed white dress shirt under a new black overcoat with a red tie. He wore shiny dress shoes and black pants. Tsuna could see the yellow tips of his horns and the box weapon hanging on a short chain on the belt. His lightening ring was on his finger.

"Y-You look...nice," Tsuna said. He didn't know what else to say—he's never seen Lambo dressed like this before!

"Oh? This is nothing. We're just going to a fancy meeting. I hope my younger self doesn't embarrass me. Gokudera would kill me when I go back if I make the Vongola look bad."

"Damn right I would!" Gokudera growled. Lambo looked at him and grinned. "Yo, Gokudera! A bit of advice: stay home on your next birthday no matter _who _tells you to get out of the house."

POOF! Pink smoke obscured the view of Adult Lambo. Lambo came back in a black sack.

"Bakadera! Let Lambo-san out!" The muffled voice said.

"Lambo!" Tsuna exclaimed. He quickly untied the bag and Lambo tumbled out. Lambo looked at Gokudera.

"Bakadera! You'll pay for that!" Lambo cried. He reached into his hair to pull out a grenade. He unpinned it.

"GAAK!" Tsuna grabbed it and threw it out the window, high in the air.

BOOM!

He sighed with relief. He turned around. There were _ten _grenades thrown his way.

"_HIIIIEEE!" _His eyes bulged out.

BAM! His eyes rolled up to his head and he half fell before he straightened.

"RE...BORN! ARRG! I WILL REMOVE THESE GRENADES OUT OF THE HOUSE WITH MY DYING WILL!" The grenades landed by his feet. In just his green boxers with an orange flame on his head, he picked them up. "REMOVE! REMOVE! REMOVE! REMOVE! REMOVE! REMOVE! REMOVE! REMOVE! REMOVE! REEEMOOOOOVE!"

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

* * *

><p>Kenshin jolted at the sound of...bombs? He sighed. The Vongola Family wasn't even <em>trying <em>to keep quiet. Don't they know that they're causing unnecessary attention to themselves? Geez. It came again. He jumped in the air and the file he was reading fell out of his hands. He was becoming paranoid. And this was no difference that living in a country at war, he realised. He also couldn't stuff his ears because, hello? Assassins are in town!

* * *

><p>With the deed done, Tsuna "calmed down". The flame was still on his head though.<p>

"Juudaime?" Gokudera was confused. Wasn't he supposed to revert back to normal? Tsuna walked past them towards the kitchen.

"Tsuna! What are you doing?" Yamamoto asked.

"I WILL FIND OUT WHAT THEY'RE UP TO WITH MY DYING WILL!" He yelled.

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT! SAWADA! I WILL JOIN YOU _TO THE EXTREME!" _Ryohei roared and got up.

"ARG!" Tsuna growled his agreement. The two of them made their way to the kitchen. "Exactly what you would expect from someone who lives with his dying will every minute of the day," Reborn approved.

The rest of them could hear them opening the door to the kitchen.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL MAKING?" Tsuna yelled. Haru and Kyoko screamed at the sight of Tsuna barely dressed. Pots and pans went flying. Tsuna and Ryohei hit them away.

"I WILL FIND OUT WHAT YOU'RE MAKING TO THE EXTREME!" Tsuna insisted as he punched away a frying pan.

"I'M WITH YOU, SAWADA!" Ryohei screamed. Together, they barged into the kitchen.

"Tsuna-san! Get out! Get dressed!" Haru screamed. "Don't get closer to Haru in just your underwear!"

Tsuna and Ryohei walked past them and pulled off the lid for the pot. They sniffed.

"Fruit juice?" Ryohei said confused. Tsuna took in a deeper breath, filling his lungs with the scent.

"NO, THERE'S MORE THAN FRUIT JUICE!" Was what his senses were telling Tsuna. He turned to Bianchi who was leaning against the doorway with her orange goggles on. "BIANCHI! I WILL MAKE YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU PUT IN THERE WITH MY DYING WILL!" He jumped over the table and landed in front of Bianchi. She looked at him, then at the clock on the kitchen wall.

"No," she said.

"I WILL ASK YOU WHAT IS IN THAT POT WITH MY DYING WILL! BIAnchi! What is in the pot?" Tsuna said as the flame evaporated. He blinked.

"Get out," Bianchi said calmly. She smacked his head and he stumbled out. Kyoko and Haru pushed Ryohei until his feet made him walk out the door after Tsuna. The door shut behind them and they could hear an audible click.

"Was there always a lock for the kitchen?" Tsuna asked himself, puzzled. Ryohei went back to the living room while Tsuna went to get clothes again.

"So Tsuna, what were they making?" Reborn asked like an innocent little child.

"Like you don't already know," Tsuna retorted. Reborn hit him with a Leon Hammer. "Ow!"

"Juudaime! Are you alright?"

"Eh, yeah. About what they're making... I _don't _want to drink it," Tsuna said. "Bianchi must have helped them somewhere along the way with that technique of hers. There's nothing disgusting about it, but I smelled _something _that shouldn't be there."

"What's this you smelled?" Yamamoto asked curiously. Tsuna shrugged.

"I don't care _what _it is. As long as Aneki had a part of makinging it, I will never touch it," Gokudera said.

"If you don't drink it you aren't worthy of being the right hand man for the Vongola Decimo," Reborn commented.

"_Gaak!" _Gokudera looked at Reborn then at Tsuna. He bowed low. "Juudaime! I will..._gulp..._I will drink whatever she serves me no matter how horrible it is!" He proclaimed.

_Reborn knows just how to make Gokudera do what he wants, doesn't he, _Tsuna thought with a shiver going down his spine.

"Ah! Reborn, what about the Luna Family?" Tsuna asked. "If we're all sick, who will defend us?"

"There's a reason why they are called the Luna Family. They work according to the phases of the moon. When they do an A Rank Mission, which is the most important one, they do it the night of the new moon. That is when there is _no _moon to light your path and the night is plunged into darkness. Actually, that was the case when street lights didn't exist, but you can't go against tradition," Reborn told them. "So, they won't be attacking the Vongola Family tonight. They will be doing it a week from today."

"Next Saturday," Tsuna whispered. "But what if they hurt Kaa-san? Or the kids?"

"That's why I'm here!" Iemitsu pointed to himself. "We're going on a vacation to Italy! I won four tickets! Nana, Fuuta, and I-pin, and I will be going on a vacation!"

"What about Lambo?" Tsna asked. The cow in question was currently trying to attack Gokudera.

"He's a Guardian. He also has a job to fight against the Luna Family. Have you forgotten the role of the Lightening Guardian?" Reborn asked. "If you have, I'll have to pound it into your head again."

"I remember what the role is, but he's just a kid!" Tsuna said.

"Baka Tsuna! I can fight!" Lambo said angrily, momentarily pausing from ripping Gokudera's hair out of their roots. Tsuna didn't budge.

"No, Lambo. You're only six."

"I fought before!" Lambo screamed his complaint into Gokudera's ear.

"Juudaime, please just let the stupid cow fight. If he's injured again, we'll be rid of him for at least a few weeks," Gokudera reasoned. Tsuna bit the inside of his cheek.

"Fine." He said and turned to face away from them. Reborn smirked. Tsuna probably had _something _planned out. "You'll be staying with Onii-san. You do whatever he wants you to do or else I'm chaining you up, understand?" He asked.

"Why do I have to be with him?" Lambo complained. Tsuna turned back around, pulled him off Gokudera, and pinched his cheeks lightly.

"You either stay with Onii-san or you don't fight at all. Got it?" He was nose to nose with the cow. Lambo nodded.

"But give me grape candy first!" Tsuna sighed.

"Don't you already have enough? Never mind. Don't answer that."

"Tsuna-kun!" Enma came through the door.

"Enma-kun, you're here!" Tsuna smiled. "And everyone else!"

"Well, Julie didn't want to come," Enma said apologetically. "He said that it's pointless."

"Rauji!" Lambo screamed. He jumped into the Mountain Guardian.

"Hullo, Lambo," Rauiji greeted.

"Let's go to the backyard!" Lambo ordered. Rauji put down his small bag and they left.

"Great," Reborn said. "It's seven thirty, a bit early to start the sleep over, so how about we play a game of Kings?" He said.

"Kings?" Enma was just as confused as Tsuna was.

"Which version?" Adelheid asked.

"You know the game?" Enma asked her. Adelheid nodded.

"A lot of people in our family played it when they had spare time before..." Adelheid said.

"I still don't know what the game is," Tsuna said before the silence could bring back bad memories.

"Me neither," Yamamoto said. "Hey, kid, are you going to explain to us now?"

"Not yet. The drinks aren't ready. Kyoko said it will take an hour for it to cool down to taste the best."

"What's the drink?" Aoba asked curiously. "Alcohol?"

"No, we have something better," Reborn told him straight faced. _Liar! _Gokudera and Tsuna thought.

"I changed a rule in my version to fit this occasion. I will be the referee because they are my rules. Anyone who objects dies a painful death."

Tsuna cringed. He was _just _about to do that.

"Ne... The referee doesn't participate, right?" Tsuna said. _Which means the ref doesn't need to drink Bianchi's poison...!_

An hour later, most of them were changed into whatever they sleep in. Most of them had shorts and short sleeved shirts, or actual pajamas. The same goes for the girls.

Mukuro also appeared, wearing a softer version of the Kokuyo uniform.

"Kufufufu. Oya, something interesting is happening again," he said when he saw them.

"Mukuro-sama!" Chrome said when she saw him. She was wearing a blue and indigo coloured night shirt with a white eyepatch.

"Hello, Nagi," Mukuro gave her a smile.

"M-Mukuro!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Well, you're not going to like what we'll be doing. It's torture."

"Kufufufu. Is that so? That gives me more reason to be here. Oh, and Vongola, that detective won't be bothering you again for some time," Mukuro said with a sly smile. "At least, he won't be spying on you in the next few days. I'm afraid I might have given him too much to think about."

Tsuna shivered.

"I want dinner," Lambo complained.

"We will be drinking enough to make you full for two days," Reborn said. Lambo lightened up while those who knew about Bianchi's cooking wanted to run away.

They sat in a circle around the large, short table that fit all of them, including Nana and Iemitsu.

They sat in this order going by the right: Reborn, Bianchi, Iemitsu, Basil, Tsuna, Gokudera, Aoba, Ryohei, Kaoru, Chrome, Mukuro, Nana, Kyoko, Haru, I-pin, Lambo, Rauji, Yamamoto, Enma, Shittopi-chan, and Adelheid.

Reborn shuffled the cards and put them face down circling a pot. Inside the pot were several different jugs of liquid sitting on ice cubes. These were to be refills. Everyone already had their own glass in front of them. Their colours corresponded to their flame colour.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I have absolutely no idea what colours Enma and his Guardians' flames are and I'm too lazy to go through the manga and read every speech bubble to see whether they mention them. So I'll just try to make them... "Earthy" colours and correspond to their flame type.**

* * *

><p>"This is a big circle," Tsuna said. "How are we going to reach for the cards?<p>

"You lean in and grab one, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said. Now, I'm going to set some ground rules before explaining the game."

Reborn began to explain the rules.

"The adults can drink beer, sake, or whatever they want as long as it's not water or juice. Those under eighteen will have to drink what is prepared for you in the pot. To play, someone picks a card from the fifty two you see surrounding the pot. Then you have to do whatever the card means. I will now tell you the meanings of each card. I will remind you what they mean if you forget in the middle of the game, but if you do, you also have to add a drop of this into your drink," Reborn held a small white cube between his thumb and forefinger. They gulped.

"Here are the rules."

...

_**Kings-Version: Reborn**_

_***Drink=one mouthful unless stated otherwise**_

**Ace (Race): **Choose another Mafioso to race to the bottom of the cup with you.

**Two (You): **The Mafioso who drew the card picks someone else to drink.

**Three (Me): **The Mafioso who picked the card drinks.

**Four (Earth): **Point to your Earth. Those who fail to do so, or are the last to do so drink their entire cup.

**Five (Guys): **All male Mafioso drink.

**Six (Mix): **Mix your drink with the Mafioso to your right.

**Seven (Sky): **Point to your sky. Those who fail to do so, or are the last to do so drink their entire cup.

**Eight (Date/Mate): **Choose someone to drink with you whenever either of you have to drink.

**Nine (Whine): **Everyone in the circle must whine about something. Direction is counter clockwise.

**Ten (Toilet): **Only the person in possession of this card can go to the washroom.

**Jack (Boss): **Order someone to do something _once._

**Queen (Ladies): **All female Mafioso drink.

**King (Drink up): **Everyone drinks.

**Joker (Chameleon): **Everyone throws themselves onto a flat surface that's the same colour as their shirt to blend in. Last to do so must drink entire cup.

...

"Drinks entire cup of Bianchi's cooking?" Tsuna muttered. Gokudera paled.

"Well, do any of you have any objections?" Reborn asked glaring them all down as if to say, "If you do, keep them to yourselves." When no one said anything, Reborn grinned. "Good. We'll start. Tsuna, pick the first one."

"W-Why _me?" _He asked.

"Because you are our host," Reborn said. "No hurry up. We don't have all night." Tsuna pinched a card from the pile. He looked at it and gulped. He showed it to the group. It was a two. He had to choose someone else to drink.

No one made eye contact with him.

"Oya? No one wants to drink?" Mukuro laughed.

Gokudera yelled, "If you've tried my sis' cooking before, you won't be saying that!"

"Kufufuffu. Nothing can stop me."

"Then you drink!" Tsuna blurted out. Before he could take it back, Mukuro smiled and shrugged.

"Alright." He picked up his indigo coloured glass. Every Vongola held their breath. The Shimon hasn't tried Bianchi's cooking first-handed, just watched curiously. Mukuro put the glass down and kept the liquid in his mouth for a moment before his face blanched. He swallowed. A few drops of sweat gathered on his forehead. He turned to Bianchi.

"Poison Scorpion, what was in that?" He asked, his eyes narrowing. He had a guess, but he wanted to make sure.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you my secret recipes," Bianchi said. "Everyone has their own secrets. Mukuro seemed to accept this answer.

"Kufufufu. That is true." Mukuro said. He leaned back. Everyone stared at him.

"H-He's not dead..." Gokudera murmured. "Oi! How did you do that?" He demanded. Mukuro smiled that smile of his.

"This dose of poison is not as strong as it usually is," was all he said.

"Next person," Reborn said, "Gokudera." Gokudera reached and picked the one nearest him. He looked at it for one second and flipped it to show everyone else. Five. All guys drink.

"Gokudera, you just _had _to go and pick that card up, didn't you?" Aoba sighed. Gokudera glowered at the Forest Guardian.

"All males participating must drink," Reborn said. They picked up their glass. Mukuro paused. He cleared his throat and caught everyone's attention.

"To a better life once this is over," he said.

"I agree," Tsuna said. "I hope my next life isn't filled with all these problems. See you there, Mukuro." He drank his orange liquid, sure that he wouldn't live to see the next day. His Vongola rings clinked against the glass as he drank.

"It was nice knowing you, Juudaime..." Gokduera said. He drank a mouthful. Yamamoto laughed.

"Hahahaha! So I just drink? Cheers!" He drank his red coloured drink.

"Lambo-san doesn't want to drink this!" He cried, trying to push away his light green glass.

Enma frowned into his green one.

"Why are you all so... gloomy about it?" He asked. Tsuna put his glass back down and looked at his friend.

"You'll see. Nice knowing you, Enma-kun."

"THIS WILL BE EXTREME! IT'S HOT!" Ryohei roared. He downed his glass. Bianchi took it from him and refilled it with yellow goop.

"O-Onii-san, You're only supposed to drink once," Tsuna said. Then his stomach gurgled. "Oh..." He bent down, clutching his stomach. Gokudera did the same. He rested his head on the table and his body was shaking.

"Oh, that hits the spot," Iemitsu sighed and put down his mug of sake.

"Master...I will overcome this training!" Basil said. This caught Ryohei's attention as his own stomach complained.

"I WILL TRAIN MY STOMACH TO THE _EXTREME! _NOTHING CAN STOP ME!" He sat still and took in deep breaths with the occasional growl from his throat. Mukuro just looked slightly paler than before. Yamamoto grinded his teeth together after swallowing and the others had a similar reaction. Enma's friends took it the hardest since they've never tasted Bianchi's cooking before.

"What is this...?" Enma asked.

Bianchi said, "It's a drink for underage players of this game."

They groaned.

"Alright, Aoba, it's your turn to choose a card." Aoba looked at the cards in distaste.

"You better not chose one that involves me," Gokudera growled. Aoba glared at him. He picked one underneath a few. He looked at it and sighed. His hand fell to the table and showed the number. Eight:

He has to choose another person. He glared at Gokudera again.

"If I have to suffer, then so do you!" He clasped a hand on Gokudera's right shoulder. He looked ready to faint.

"At least you don't need to drink anything, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna whispered.

"Ryohei, choose a card from the pile," Reborn said.

"HM...WHICH ONE SHOULD I EXTREMELY CHOOSE?" He wondered.

"Any would do..." Yamamoto grunted and chuckled.

"THEN I CHOOSE THIS ONE TO THE EXTREME!" He picked one on the far side of the pot and slapped it onto the table for them to see. An Ace: a race to the bottom of the cup.

"I forgot what this is to the _extreme," _Ryohei scratched his head.

"Do you want me to remind you?" Reborn was dressed as Master Pao Pao.

"Thanks, Master Pao Pao!" Ryohei said. "That would be helpful to the _EXTREME!"_

Reborn tossed a white cube into his drink.

_Plonk! _It instantly fizzled and dissolved.

"You have to choose another person in a race to finish whatever you have left in your cup," Reborn said. "Whoever finishes first gets only half a refill. The loser gets a full refill.

"Hm..." Ryohei looked at them all.

"SAWADA! YOU AND ME TO THE _EXTREME!" _He roared and stood up, both fists clenched, ready for the challenge.

"_HIIIE! _I don't want another refill!" Tsuna screamed.

"COME ON, SAWADA! IT'S NOT THAT BAD! AND TRAIN YOUR STOMACH TO THE _EXTREME! _I CHALLENGE YOU TO A RACE TO FINISHT THE CUP!"

"Don't worry, Juudaime! Turf-Top's cup is full to the rim! You have a head start!" Gokudera said. Tsuna gave him a weak smile.

"Thanks, Gokudera-kun..." He picked up his glass.

"I'm ready," the brunet said.

"Oya, Decimo, if you die, I won't be able to possess your body," Mukuro said. He had recovered from the last drink. Tsuna's eyes widened.

"You're still going on about that?"

"Kufufufu. I hate the mafia. One day I _will _take over your body."

"Tsuna, if you lose this, you're in for a full night of studying Italian," Reborn said.

"_HIIIEE! _A whole night? That's too much!"

"Then don't lose," he said. Tsuna gulped and looked at his cup.

"On my count," Reborn said. Tsuna put the glass to his lips. "Three...two...one."

Ryohei and Tsuna drank as fast as they could. Ryohei was half way. Tsuna was a third in. They drank and drank! And drank some more! And...Tsuna's glass slammed the table, empty. A second later, Ryohei's hit the table.

"THAT WAS EXTREME, SAWADA! CONGRATULATIONS!" Ryohei said.

"Wow, Tsuna-kun! You beat Onii-chan!" Kyoko said. Tsuna cringed as his insides disapproved his choice of drink.

"What did that white block of something do to Senpai?" Yamamoto wanted to know.

"It has the worth of three percent of alcohol in it," Reborn said.

"But didn't you say we aren't allowed to drink?" Tsuna asked after gasping.

"Juudaime! Hang in there!" Bianchi had filled his glass again. This time, the orange liquid was steaming with cold.

"It's only a little bit," Reborn said. "Besides, that's _far _from illegal, don't you think?"

"I guess being part of the mafia is breaking more rules than underage drinking," Tsuna muttered, only loud enough for Gokudera and Basil, who sat on either side of him, could hear.

"Good job, Sawada-dono!" Basil approved. Tsuna grinned.

Kaoru drew the next card. A six. "I have to mix with the person to my right," he said.

"Chrome..." Tsuna said worriedly. How will her illusion-organs take the poison?

"Then let's mix," Reborn said. Brown and indigo coloured glasses poured into one another and was divided evenly again. Chrome hesitated before drinking. Then she drank. Her face turned a sickly shade of green as she forced herself to swallow. She had her eyes shut tightly.

"Chrome, are you alright?" Tsuna asked. Her cheeks flushed as she opened them.

"I'm alright, Boss..." She held her abdomen. Tsuna could see a faint glow of the Vongola Ring she had on her finger. Probably for if her organs began to fail her. Mukuro looked at her with a frown. He patted her head which seemed to do a bit of good.

"Alright, Chrome it's your turn to choose one," Reborn said. She picked one up and looked at it.

"It's a nine," she showed them.

"Great. Start us off then, Chrome," Reborn said. "I wonder what you will all whine about. If what you say doesn't sound like a whine you have to drink."

"...But I don't _want _to drink again," Chrome said with a deep blush in a small whimper.

"Nagi whined," Mukuro looked amused. "I haven't seen you do that before." Chrome's blush deepened, if that was possible.

Kaoru said nothing.

"Eh? You don't have something to whine about?" Yamamoto asked with a smile. In reply, he drank from his glass. They turned to Ryohei. He stared back defiantly.

"I HAVE NOTHING TO WHINE ABOUT TO THE EXTREME! I NEVER DO! FOR ONCE, WHY CAN'T I HAVE SOMETHING TO WHINE ABOUT? I WISH I KNEW HOW TO WHINE MORE!" He shouted.

"I'll give that a pass for whining," Reborn said. Next, Aoba." He had his arms crossed. "If you don't have something to whine about, you have to drink." Aoba stared at his glass, as if weighing his options. He sighed.

"Why couldn't Enma grow up more? He's so _childish _and mutters under his breath too much! _Yeesh! _He should at least act like a boss! And then Sawada Tsunayoshi! He's _so annoying!" _He whined. They all blinked. They looked at Enma then Tsuna. Both had reddened faces.

"What! How dare you call Juudaime annoying, you bastard!" Gokudera had his dynamites out. "Go ahead and insult your own boss! Don't put the Vongola into it!"

"G-Gokudera-kuun! Calm down!" Tsuna pulled his friend back down.

"But Juudaime! He insulted you!"

"E-Eh... if he didn't whine well enough...you would have to drink as well, ahahah..." Tsuna said, his eyes closed and mouth open in a laugh. Gokudera frowned at this.

"Why am _I _partnered with this idiot? If I'm partnered, I'd rather be with Juudaime! I can't believe I'm stuck with this idiot!" Gokudera growled. For just a moment while he complained, he looked like a ten year old kid who had to apologise for doing something he thought was right.

"_Fine, _I'll deal with the idiot, but just because Juudaime would like me to!" He said and looked up.

"What?" He asked when he noticed them all staring at him.

"H-Hahi! Y-You _whined," _Haru said. "Haru has never heard you complain so much before," she said in wonder. Nana giggled.

"It's actually kind of cute, Gokudera-kun," she said. Gokudera blushed.

"Dame-Tsuna, let's see if you can whine on purpose," Reborn said. Tsuna began to sweat.

"U-Um..." Reborn smirked.

"Or else you'll have Italian lessons the whole night while your friends play without you." Tsuna snapped.

"Why are you always _picking _on me, Reborn? It's always me! Me, me_, me!_ You could go and pick on someone else, you know! You're always torturing me this way and that, and then giving out death threats if I don't finish my homework, and then you _still _hit me if I finish my homework_ two_ minutes after an hour!" They looked at Reborn to see his reaction at being yelled at by his student. Tsuna ignored this and continued his rant. "An _hour, _Reborn—that's the quickest time I can do my homework! You _know_ how no-good I am! I can't finish anything less than an hour! There's _never _a day when you _don't _have something to beat me up for!" He stopped to catch his breath. He opened his mouth to continue, but Basil and Gokudera pulled him down. He didn't realise he had stood up.

"Sawada-dono! If you say anymore, I fear you will have more training ahead of you!" He said.

"Reborn-san looked serious," Gokudera whispered. Tsuna looked at Reborn. Then he realised what he had said before.

"Um...Reborn...I didn't really mean it..." Tsuna said. Reborn's fedora was covering the top half of his face.

"That was more whining than needed," Reborn said. "It's good to know that you like my training so much," he said darkly. Tsuna would have gulped if he wasn't so afraid. "Since you like it so much, I think we will continue it, doubled." Tsuna collapsed. He didn't faint, he just felt too weak to sit up anymore. _Why did I have to go and take Reborn's bait? _Tsuna groaned inwardly.

"Another lesson to learn: don't lose control over your temper because of insults from an opponent. It can get your friends killed in battle," Reborn said.

Basil was next. He complained about how his weapons weren't as sharp as they were when his master had first given them, and he never had the time to get them sharpened again. Then he began to whine about how he should have learnt how to sharpen weapons no matter how boring it seemed.

Iemitsu complained about how he was always away from home because of his work, but it couldn't be helped. Then he whined about how his son was so distant towards him and everything. His face was red, which suggested that he had drunk a few bottles of sake while everyone had their bellies tortured. Then he fell asleep.

Bianchi, being the cook, did not participate. Adelheid was next.

"I will not go so low as to whine," she said defiantly. She picked up her ice cold crystal-shiny white glass of goo. She drank it without another word. Her liquid was slow and clunky. They could hear her chewing something crunchy, like ice. No matter how _nice _the drink looked, it must have been as horrible as Tsuna's drink tasted because her expression turned from a frown to a scowl. Then her face turned slightly blue as if she was suffocating. She waved a hand to tell her friends that she was alright.

"There seem to be a lot of people who don't like to whine," Reborn commented. "Anyways, Shittopi-chan, it's your turn." She seemed to think about what to sigh about. She tilted her drink slightly and seemed to have decided.

"My drink is too gooey!" She said in a very whine-like tone.

"I'll accept that. Enma, it's your turn." Enma seemed unsure of himself.

"I don't _want_ to whine," he said pleadingly. "Can I pass?"

"Of course not," Reborn said with a scoff. Enma looked down. "But, I suppose whining that you don't _want _to makes up for whining," he smirked. Enma looked up with widened eyes.

"Y-You mean I don't need to drink this...this horrid thing?" He asked, not believing his luck.

"What did you just call horrid?" Bianchi asked. She had a whole cake ready to throw at Enma. It was purple and decorated with _real _worms that seemed to wiggle in and out, not to mention bugs the size of their thumbs.

"_Nothing?" _He squealed fearfully. Bianchi gave a soft snort and sat back down.

"Yamamoto, let's hear you," Reborn said.

"Ahahaha! Let's see...ah, I know!" He put on a pouting face. "Gokudera complains too much! It's very annoying! I wish that he'd just stop yelling at me all the time since it's damaging my hearing, although hearing isn't really needed in baseball, I'd rather live with my ears still working! Oh, how I wish he could stop yelling at me for every little thing!" He stopped his pouting and grinned widely. "How was that?"

"Pass," Reborn said. "Rauji, you're next."

Rauji said something inaudible under his breath but Reborn seemed to be satisfied with the answer because he then said, "Lambo, it's your turn to whine." He screamed.

"Lambo-san is the best at everything! EAHAHHAHA!" Reborn hit him with a white cube. It disintegrated on contact.

"You aren't the best if you can't even whine."

"Gotta...stay...calm..." Lambo muttered under his breath. Rauji looked slightly concerened.

"Lambo, you okay?"

"WHAAA! BAKA REBORN!" He took out the bazooka.

"Oh, not this again—adult Lambo's going to get annoyed at himself!" Tsuna freaked out.

POOF!

"My oh my... this _again?" _The familiar voice heaved out a sigh. They could see Adult Lambo standing before them holding a glass of possibly juice, since the future Tsuna wouldn't ever let sixteen year old Lambo drink wine or anything like it.

"Oi, you stupid cow, please tell me the Vongola Guardians weren't doing anything that involved them being in the centre of attention," Gokudera said. Lambo turned to him.

"What are you talking about? The Vongola Guardians are always in the centre of attention. We can't help it." Gokudera knocked his head against the table.

_Donk, donk, donk!_

"G-Gokudera-kun...I'm sure it's fine..." Tsuna said.

"I hope my older self does something to keep Lambo quiet," Gokudera said. Yamamoto laughed.

"I'm sure he'll think of something, Gokudera!"

"Hahi! Where did Lambo go?" Haru asked.

"He was here just a minute ago," Kyoko said.

"I _am _Lambo," Adult Lambo said.

"Anyways, if you don't whine, you have to drink Bianchi's cooking," Reborn said. This had an immediate effect on Lambo.

"No, I don't want to! Uh-um! I hate all those balls we have to attend! They're so annoying! We always have to talk to people! They never leave me a moment's of peace since I'm the Lightning Guardian! It's all Vongola's fault! He's always trying to make more allies and that means we are always invited to the smallest, most meaningless parties ever! It's so annoying!" He whined. "I wish I don't have to _go! _It's so _unfair!" _

Tsuna sweat dropped. "Well, _sor-rry," _he defended his future self. "I'm sure I don't like those either if you put it that way because if _you _don't get a moment's peace, then neither would I!" Lambo was about to reply but he felt something scary to his right.

"_Romeo...!" _Bianchi had two extra large poison cooking cakes in her hands. Lambo froze with fear and shock.

POOF!

Lambo was quietly munching on a cupcake, with two more in his other hand. They were party sized, so it was obvious one wouldn't be enough. Bianchi blinked. "I must have been dreaming," she said.

"Does this mean he didn't embarrass Juudaime?" Gokudera wondered. "And why is everyone always complaining about _me?"_

"Next person: I-pin."

"Lambo is annoying! I wish he can stop yelling and keep quiet for at least a whole day!" I-pin was not exaggerating—she was telling the truth. Tsuna would have clapped his hands if Lambo wouldn't have started a riot because he was sure everyone would also cheer for I-pin.

"Haru, it's your turn."

"Hahi! Let's see, I really don't like how Gokudera calls Haru stupid woman, because I'm _not _a stupid woman! And he's always so _loud! _That's what I whine about," Haru said.

"G-Gak! Stop complaining about me!" Gokudera shouted at everyone. They all laughed as Haru and he began arguing.

"If you don't stop fighting, both of you have to drink," Reborn threatened. They settled down.

"Next is Kyoko."

"It's too _cold!" _She wailed. "How's that?" She smiled. Tsuna blushed and look away.

"That'll do. Mama, it's your turn." She thought for a moment, and then giggled. She began to list/whine things that she wished could be changed. One was that she wished Tsuna was a girl. Tsuna cringed.

"Alright. Mukuro, do you have anything to whine about?"

"Kufufufu. A few days ago, some of us went to France to look for Fran. It turns out he has forgotten all the memories Yuni has given him. He chose to follow the Varia, which is fine by me, but he has forgotten everything. That is very troublesome if I want to teach him properly," Mukuro said.

"You don't sound like you're whining. Drink up, Mukuro." Mukuro glared at the Arcobaleno with his eyes, but did so for the sake of the game. His nose wrinkled with distaste.

"Alright, we are done with Chrome's card. Mukuro, it's your turn to pick a card."

He stretched his long arm and plucked one up.

"Oya, this is interesting," Mukuro said. He flicked it over for them to see. It was a Queen, which means all the girls had to drink. The boys sighed gratefully.

"Hahi! It's finally time for us to drink!" Haru said. "I wonder if it's as bad as Tsuna-san says it is!" She took a mouthful and almost spit it back out. She forced herself to gulp it down. "Th-That was...was..._ugh..." _She almost threw up but controlled herself.

"I haven't tasted anything like it," Kyoko said.

"Nothing is wrong with it," Bianchi said.

"That's because you made it..." Tsuna said.

"Mama, it's your turn to draw a card."

"Oh!" She looked at her card. "It's a seven!"

Everyone instantly pointed to their sky. Tsuna was about to point, but froze when he saw that fingers were going in different directions. Enma's Guardians pointed upwards. So did Nana, Iemitsu, Kyoko, Haru, Lambo, I-pin, Ryohei, and Basil. Gokudera, Yamamoto, Chrome, Mukuro and Enma pointed at Tsuna.

"E-Eh?" Tsuna pointed at himself. _"Me?"_

"Of course, Juudaime!" Gokudera said confidently. "You are _my_ sky!" Chrome and Enma nodded in agreement.

"Tsuna-kun is the sky that I will follow," Enma said "Although I am not one of your Guardians." Chrome blushed and nodded. Mukuro snickered. Yamamoto laughed.

"Well, you _are _the sky, right, Tsuna? So obviously, I'll point at you!" Tsuna's face became beat red.

"It is the sky that allows everyone to move freely," Mukuro said. "He covers all: the sun, rain, storm, lightening, clouds, and mist."

"You guys..." His heart filled with... He didn't know. It's just a very warm feeling. Reborn smirked.

"Lambo and Ryohei has to drink," Reborn said.

"What? Why?"' He asked.

"Tsuna is your boss. He is the sky that you have pledged yourself loyal to. Enma's Guardians aren't Tsuna's, so they can either point to him or to the heavens. Tsuna's Guardians must point at him. Otherwise, they are incorrect. Also, you were the last to point. Now _drink."_

"I'll get you for this, Reborn!" He screamed and drank. He had a small mouth, so he didn't take much—but then again, he has a small stomach.

"Arg! I should have thought of that to the _extreme!" _Ryohei said as he took a large mouthful.

"I need to visit the washroom," Aoba excused himself. Reborn stopped him.

"Later. Let's finish a round first."

"..." He sat back down.

Kyoko chose a card. "A three, so I have to drink." She put the card down and drank some of her glass. She put her hands to her face and groaned softly.

"Hahi...it's my turn," Haru said nervously. She picked one lightly, afraid to look at it. Everyone waited for her reaction. She grinned widely.

"Hahi! I got an eight!" She showed them while doing a little happy dance. "Tsuna-san! Will you be my date?" She asked. "You'll be my _da-ate!" _She sang.

"I-Is it possible to refuse?" Tsuna asked helplessly. He looked at Kyoko, who smiled lightly.

"You are not allowed to refuse once you have been chosen." Tsuna groaned.

"Haru will go sit beside Tsuna-san now!" She got up.

"_Hiiieeee! _Haru, that's not allowed, is it?" He looked at Reborn.

"No, it's not. No one is allowed to switch places."

"Awe, Haru really wanted to sit beside Tsuna-san..."

"Only I can sit beside Juudaime!" Gokudera shouted, pointing at himself.

"I-pin, pick your card," Reborn said, totally ignoring Gokudera. I-pin jumped onto the table and chose one.

"I-pin has chosen a King," she showed them. They were all silent as they let that sink in.

"Ahahahah! So we all have to drink?" Yamamoto asked.

"Sh-Shut up, Baseball Freak!" Gokudera hissed.

"Come on, Drink up!" Reborn said with a deathly stare at them all. They drank... but not before complaining and choking and bubbles coming out of their mouths.

Lambo chose a card.

"What's this stupid thing?" He asked. It was the Joker. Without explaining to him, they all ran to find something in the room that was the same colour as their shirt. Gokudera and Ryohei flopped themselves onto the floor, Shittopi-chan and Rauji lay on the table; Tsuna flattened himself to the couch. I-pin lay on top of him. Kyoko and Haru knelt by the plants. Chrome looked around frantically and found Yamamoto's blue sleeping bag. Whispering a short apology, she lay down on it. Mukuro chuckled and disappeared. Enma and Aoba found themselves on the wall, Adelheid and Kaoru found sleeping bags. Basil and Iemitsu were in the yard on the grass. Nana had her back against a beige curtain. Bianchi and Reborn surveyed them to find the last person not in place. Lambo and Yamamoto were the only ones left.

"Well, you all look hilarious," Reborn said with no sense of humour, "I am very tempted to tell you all to stay like that. But that won't work. Lambo and Yamamoto have to drink. Everyone come back to the table. And get off it as well," he looked at the ones on it.

Yamamoto looked half conscious after he drank his whole cup.

"Yamamoto, Lambo, are you two alright?" Tsuna asked.

"WHAAA... Lambo-san is NOT okay!" Lambo cried.

"I'll live...hahaha..." Yamamoto said.

Rauji chose a card next. It was a two. He looked around and pointed.

"Aoba."

"Why me?" Aoba exclaimed. Gokudera gave them a glare that could peel paint off a wall.

"Aoba...you bastard..." Gokudera muttered.

Rauji shrugged. "It was random."

They drank and temporarily fainted. Once they were back up, Yamamoto picked his card. He beamed. He showed them. A ten.

"Ahahah! I got the washroom pass!" Yamamoto laughed.

"Give me that!" Aoba screamed.

"No give it to me!" Gokudera yelled! Yamamoto grinned.

"Nu-uh! It's mine! I'll hold on to it for now. Is that okay, kid?"

"Yup." Enma grabbed a card.

"I can also go to the washroom," he mumbled. Gokudera and Aoba stared hungrily at the card. Enma held it close. "I'm not using it yet."

"D-Don't worry, there's still two more," Tsuna reassured them.

"I'm going to get one," Aoba said.

"So am I," Gokudera said. Then he looked startled. "But I'll give it to Juudaime no matter what!"

"E-Eh? That's okay, Gokudera-kun! Keep it for yourself! I'll find a way to go to the washroom!"

"If you say so, Juudaime...but don't hesitate to ask for my tenth card!" Gokudera knelt to Tsuna, who scooted away slightly.

"It's _alright, _Gokudera-kun!"

"Next person: Shittopi-chan! Draw a card!"

"I got a nine," she said.

"Again?"

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" Reborn asked.

They began to whine one by one about whatever they thought of. This time, Reborn said that Tsuna, Enma, Rauji, Ryohei, Adelheid, Haru, and Aoba didn't whine properly so they had to drink.

Adelheid's card was a four. Learning from possible mistakes, they pointed at Enma. Tsuna also pointed at him. They grinned at each other.

Iemitsu drew an eight. He paired up with his wife.

Tsuna winced as he realised he needed to go to the washroom. _Oh I wish I get a ten!_

Basil's card was a six. He mixed his drink with Tsuna's.

"Sawada-dono, I'm giving thou back how much thy cup had. It was a bit less than half, correct?"

"U-Uh, yeah..."

Tsuna picked his card, wishing it was a ten. It was a Jack.

"No! I need to go to the washroom!" He wailed. Reborn smirked.

"So, Tsuna. You can boss someone around once. What and who are you going to use this card on?"

Tsuna thought about that. _I need to go to the washroom...if only I can get a ten...eh? Oh... _He looked at Yamamoto. He walked over to him.

"Yamamoto, give me your washroom pass, please." He had his arm outstretched. Yamamoto looked at him with his mouth open in a wide O. Reborn's smirk grew bigger. Everyone else looked on with shock. Yamamoto stuttered. "W-Wha?"

"I can boss you once," Tsuna said. "And I..." he hesitated, "I order you to give me the ten you have."

"Go, Juudaime!" Gokudera cheered.

"He's finally given an order to a subordinate," Reborn said. Yamamoto laughed.

"Ahahaha! Tsuna, you got me! Smart thinking! I hate to say it, but here, you can have it," Yamamoto offered him the card. Tsuna sighed with relief and took the card.

"Tsuna, give me the Jack," Reborn said. Tsuna handed it over.

"I'm going to use the washroom now," the brunet said, jumping foot to foot. Reborm sighed.

"Make it quick. We can't continue without you." Tsuna didn't neet to be told twice. He ran out the room.

"Wow, you can use the tenth card like that?" Ryohei asked. "I extremely didn't know that!"

"Only Juudaime would have figured out how to use that card properly!" Gokudera said.

"Hahi! Does this mean no one else can use the washroom unless we have the tenth card?" Haru asked, horrified.

"Yup," Reborn answered. "Oh, he's back. Hurry up and get into your seat, Dame-Tsuna."

"Hai, hai," Tsuna said as he sat. Gokudera chose his card.

"Shitt P.! I challenge you to a drinking contest!" He showed her the Diamond Ace he held. Shittopi-chan ignored him. He frowned. "Sh-Shittiopi...chan..." She looked at him. "Race me," he said.

"Okay."

Aoba stared at Gokudera. Gokudera in turn smirked at him.

"You said to suffer, right? You did this to yourself."

Aoba bit his bottom lip at the truth.

"Three," Reborn said, "two...one!"

_Gulp! Gulp! Gulp! _

"I win!" Shittopi-chan said two seconds before Gokudera and Aoba finished.

"Ugh..."

"Gokudera-kun! Don't die on us!" Tsuna cried. Bianchi refilled their cups.

"J-Juudaime..." He looked up at his boss. "No... I can't die now! Juudaime needs me to be his right-hand man!" He jumped back up, painfully.

"Don't force yourself, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna sad worriedly.

"I'm sorry for making you worry, Juudaime!" Gokudera bowed again.

"It's okay!"

"This drink is dangerous," Aoba said. He burped.

"Enough with the touchy scenes. Aoba, it's your turn," Reborn said.

"I don't need you to tell me that." Aoba slid a card to him and flipped it over. He blinked three times and looked at the card through his glasses.

"Heheheh..." he laughed quietly. "Hehehehehhh...HEEEHHH..HAHAHHAA!" They looked at him as if he grew two heads. He showed them. A ten.

"Too bad, _Octopus-Head," _he said. "If you will all excuse me."

"I can't believe that bastard got one..."

"There's one left," Tsuna said reasonably.

Ryohei drew a card and roared. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I PICKED THIS TO THE _EXTREME!" _He showed them the King he picked up.

"Drink up!" Reborn had an evil smile on his face.

They went through a few more rounds. By the time only a third of the deck was left surrounding the pot, almost every single one of them was on the floor, wishing they didn't have to be slowly tortured like this.

"Re-Reborn...Can we stop playing...?" Tsuna asked. Reborn looked around. Only Mukuro was still sitting—but barely.

"Extreme fighting..." Ryohei muttered. "Boxing kangaroos are the best...Sawada...you have to join the kangaroo club..." He was drunk. Although the white cubes only held very little alcohol, Ryohei had to be reminded so often, he must have consumed at least five dozen blocks. He was officially drunk.

"Reborn-san...how does your game end?" Gokudera asked. He propped himself onto his elbows.

"It ends when only one player remains standing—or sitting."

"Kufufu...so I win?" Mukuro chuckled.

"Usually, to officially 'win' in my version, you have to drink down an entire bottle of beer or whatever the alcohol is. Or, if the player in this case, cannot drink too much, the boss usually takes responsibility to win for his family. All eyes turned to Tsuna who just blinked.

"Huh? You want me to drink?"

Itemitsu was half conscious. "Hahaha! That won't work," he said. "He doesn't get drunk!"

"He _doesn't?" _Everyone gasped. _But-But-But! This is Dame-Tsuna, right? He's a _drinker? _Impossible! _Is what everyone was thinking.

"It's true!" Iemitsu waved a hand. "When he was six, _burp! _I tried to give him sake. He drank it and nothing happened. I gave him a bit more, _burp! _nothing happened. Hell, I gave him the whole bottle and told him to drink it down and then walk a straight line. He—_burp!—_did it. He still had a clear head. He even asked me what it was." Iemitsu burped again.

Everyone's eyes widened slightly more at each word. They turned to Tsuna who just looked as shocked as the rest of them.

"When did you give me sake? I don't remember this!"

"Darling, did you really give Tsu-kun a whole bottle of sake?" Nana asked. "But he was just a child!"

"Well...he was asking what it was, and one thing led to another and...yeah..." Nana hit him tiredly.

"He was a child!"

"Sorry, Nana!" Then Iemitsu fell asleep.

"Oh well. It's no fun then. I wanted to see how a drunken Dame-Tsuna looked. Alright, get ready for bed; Lights Out in half an hour. Use the washroom while you can."

The way how Reborn said 'Use the washroom while you can' sounded suspicious. He must be up to something and Tsuna hoped it didn't involve Poison Cooking.


	8. A Typical Day with Nori Kenshin

**Chapter Eight**

Tsuna awoke the next morning earlier than usual: six fifteen—on a Sunday. His body was cramped from a night of torture.

Last night, after everyone has settled in, they talked to each other in the darkness. Reborn didn't seem to mind and everything was alright. That is, until the true effects of the poison kicked in. Mukuro was the first to realise something wasn't right, since he was the first to drink it.

He laughed softly. "Oya? It looks like the real poison is acting up," he said.

"W-What are you talking about?" Tsuna stuttered. Then everyone else felt it. It began as a small pain in the stomach which they ignored, thinking that it was just the drinks. Apparently, it was more than that. The pain spread all over their body until they were unable to move from whatever position they slept in.

"Reborn! What's happening to us? I can't even move my toes! It's tingling!"

"_Zzzz..." _Reborn was fast asleep with multiple booby traps around him.

"H-He's asleep..." Tsuna told everyone.

"He must have known about this," Gokudera said.

"Hahi! I feel so uncomfortable!" Haru said. Kyoko agreed.

"It's like ants are on me," Kyoko whispered. "And my head...it hurts..."

"Kyoko-chan...Haru..."

"Ugh..." Gokudera clenched his belly and fell unconscious.

"Gokudera-kun!"

"That Arcobaleno...We can't even move...Kufufu." Mukuro said.

That was how they spent the night. By midnight, they were all either asleep or unconscious. Reborn had an undisturbed night.

Tsuna sat up and fell back down. All his muscles hurt like hell, not to mention the wound still in a cast.

_That Reborn, I can't believe it. What if the Luna Family decided to go against tradition and attacked us last night?_

He took a short nap and tried to sit up again. This time, no burning muscles stopped him. He heard movement in the kitchen and frowned. He looked around. Everyone was still in bed, save for Mukuro, who simply slept in a sitting position against a wall. He slowly got to his feet and padded towards the sound. He heard soft humming and a pan sizzling.

"Kaa-san..."

"Oh, Tsu-kun, you're up! How was your night?"

"Horrible. Whatever Bianchi gave us had late side effects," Tsuna said as he quietly pulled out a chair to sit. "None of us could move a finger." A growling sound came from his stomach. "And that stuff isn't filling. I feel like I haven't eaten in two days." Nana laughed.

"Then it's a good thing I'm making breakfast, ne?"

"What _are _you making?" Tsuna asked. He walked up to the pan. He's never actually been in the kitchen while his mother made breakfast. It had a calm feeling. _Maybe I should wake up earlier more, _he thought. _It's so peaceful._

"Oh, omelettes, scrambled eggs, anything they want. Tsu-kun, get more oil from that cupboard, please?" Tsuna looked around and spotted it.

"Here." She took it and quickly drizzled some onto the pan after she slid the two eggs onto a white plate. She set the bottle of cooking oil on the counter. She gave Tsuna the plate.

"Here you go! Eat up. For once you might get a full breakfast!" Her son grinned.

"Thanks for the food!" He took the plate to the table as well as a piece of toast. A few drips of soya sauce went on the eggs. "Ahh, it smells so good!" He took in a deep breath and sighed quietly. He didn't want anyone to interrupt him by barging in.

He was moping the plate with the bread when Haru and Kyoko walked in, dressed.

"Oh, Tsuna-kun is already here!" Kyoko whispered.

"Hahi, good morning," they said to the two. Haru laughed at Tsuna. "Tsuna-san's hair is sticking up in weird angles," she whispered. Tsuna used his clean hand to feel his hair. He snorted and tried to comb it.

"Good morning, girls," Nana said.

"Morning," Tsuna said.

"Sawada-san, do you want us to help with breakfast?" Kyoko asked politely.

"Mm! That would be wonderful, thank you!" The two girls smiled. Mukuro walked in some time later around seven.

"Kufufu...I heard that Decimo's mother cooks wonderful food."

"Awe, really?" Nana giggled. Mukuro gave her one of his smiles.

"Yes...I can smell something cooking."

"Here you go," Kyoko said. She was holding a plate in two hands. Mukuro accepted it and sat across from Tsuna.

"Good morning, Mukuro..." Mukuro's hair was as neat as ever. It didn't even look like he just woke up.

"Oya, it's Decimo. I thought you were a late riser," Mukuro answered with a chuckle. He tested the eggs. "Hm, this is good," he mused. "Maybe I should make her my personal cook."

"You can't do that!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"Kufufu. Joking, Tsunayoshi. Can't take a joke?"

_I could never tell when you're joking or not... _Tsuna thought. He stood up to get the milk.

"Mukuro...do you want milk?" He asked, unsure of his eating habits.

"Kufufu, sure." _Again with the creepy laugh, _Tsuna thought as he got two glasses from the top shelf. Mukuro looked at the clock.

"Oya...I should get going before Ken and Chikusa find out where I am," he said. And took the milk from Tsuna and downed the glass.

"Eh?"

"I didn't tell them I would be leaving for the night."

"EH?" Tsuna exclaimed. He knew first handed how Mukuro's two followers would react when they find out that Mukuro has been staying under the _Vongola's _roof for the night.

"Juudaime! Good morning!" Gokudera greeted. He was dressed in a loose red t-shirt and baggy dark blue jeans.

"Morning, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said.

"Kufufu."

"Gak!—what are you doing to close to the Juudaime for?" Gokudera yelled. "Get away from him, Juudaime! He might try to cut you with that trident of his!" Tsuna backed away a step instinctively but no more.

"Eh...Gokudera-kun, I don't think he's going to do that to me...here...at least" the brunet told his anxious friend.

"Yo! Looks kind of crowded here, hahah!" Yamamoto said. "How about we clear up our sleeping bags and put the tables back?" He suggested.

"Ah! Good idea!" Tsuna quickly ushered his friends out before him. He turned around and told Mukuro hesitantly, "Um, Mukuro, nice seeing you again. You can visit any time you like."

Mukuro looked startled at that. But after they left, he began to smile. "It won't be bad to come once in a while for good food. Kufufufu..."

Tsuna noticed that almost everyone was awake. Only Lambo was still asleep.

"Good morning, Tsuna!" all those who saw him said in their own way; Ryohei technically yelled at him, some just glanced his way.

"M-Morning..." _So many people in my house in the morning...not normal..._

"Nothing is normal in this house anymore," Reborn said. Tsuna jumped.

"Re-Reborn!"

"Ciaossu!"

"What was that poison Bianchi gave us?" He demanded.

"It was just a drink for underage people while playing Kings," Reborn said all cute and innocent-like. Tsuna looked at his tutor as if he was crazy. Reborn jumped and kicked him under the chin which sent him flying.

"Tsuna!"

"Juudaime!"

"Ugh...I'm alright..." he groaned.

"WOW, SOMETHING SMELLS EXTREMELY GOOD!" Ryohei roared.

"It's called breakfast, Turf-Top!"

"Ahaha! Let's bring all of it out," Yamamoto said, repeating his suggestion to the larger group. Practically scrambling to form a line, they received their yummy plates of love filling breakfast.

"MAMA'S OMELLETS ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD!" Lambo screamed.

"Out of all her abilities, cooking ranks number one," Fuuta said as he did a ranking.

"Aaah! Fuuta! Stop that!" Everyone and everything in the room began to float. Enma was surprised by this.

"What's going on? Where's the gravity?"

"It's _the _Ranking Fuuta..." Aoba said. "I thought it was just the same name... Oi! Can you rank me?" He asked. Fuuta's foggy eyes turned his way.

"Koyo-nii's eye sight: rank 1 out of 878." Aoba scoffed.

"I know _that _already! Rank my physical abilities!"

"Koyo-nii's fighting abilities: rank 21 out of 93,750. His punch power rank 10 out of all the people in the mafia."

"What?" He shouted. "Who has a stronger punch than me?" He argued. Fuuta looked foggily around the room and pointed.

"Ryohei-nii and Tsuna-nii's punch power rank is almost the same when Tsuna-nii is in Hyper Dying Will Mode. At full power, Ryohei-nii's punch ranks number one." _That's reasonable... _Tsuna thought. _But do I have such a strong punch? _

Books and pencils came back down and Fuuta's eyes cleared up.

"Oi, you didn't give me a proper ranking," Aoba said in surprise when he fell to the ground. Fuuta was opening his ranking book to write down the new rankings.

"I'm sorry. I can't do rankings in the rain," Fuuta said apologetically. They looked outside. Indeed, it had begun to rain.

"Wait...when did it begin raining?" Tsuna asked.

"Just after he ranked you," Reborn said.

"Juudaime ranks under Turf-Top...are you sure you're right?" Gokudera asked.

"Fuuta's rankings are one hundred percent accurate when it's not raining," Reborn said.

"Tsuna-kun, your mother makes really good food," Enma mumbled.

"Glad that you all like her cooking..."

Once everyone was finished eating, they said their goodbyes and left. Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, Kyoko and Haru stayed behind.

"Alright. Italian lessons."

"Eh? Already?

"Why not? We can start nice and early. The girls can join us if they want."

"Hahi! Reborn-kun, do you mean it?"

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have said so."

"Then I'll join!" Both Haru and Kyoko said excitedly. Reborn grinned.

"We will start with the basics then."

* * *

><p><strong>The Next Day<strong>

_Day 9: Monday_

_07:50_

_Target walks to school with Gokudera and Yamamoto._

_08:00_

_Target and two friends meet with five people who I _

_suspect is another mafia family. At the party, Mukuro_

_had said "Shimon". Perhaps they are called the Shimon Famiglia._

_...  
><em>

_08:05_

_Lambo appears with a pink grenade which I have learned is real._

_He is chased by I-pin, another baby. I-pin kicks Lambo and he_

_pulls the pin off. Everyone was blasted._

_They appear to be alright with no injuries and a young child, Fuuta,_

_runs after them. He and the two babies make their way most likely_

_back to the Sawada Residence._

_...  
><em>

_08:10_

_They arrive at school._

* * *

><p>"Che! That stupid cow. He could have killed us!" Gokudera said as they walked into the school. Enma, Adelheid, Shittopi-chan, Aoba, and Kaoru were with them.<p>

"Sorry about that, Enma-kun," Tsuna said. "I didn't expect him to follow us to school."

"It's alright, Tsuna-kun," Enma said. He was munching on a late breakfast—a chocolate bar. He, Aoba, and Kaoru wore the Nami-Middle unfiorm. Adelheid wore something similar to a prefect's uniform.

"Adelheid," Enma said cautiously and quietly.

"What is it, Enma?"

"Could you...not fight Hibari?"

"No."

_What a straight answer! _Tsuna thought. Enma tries again, rewording his request.

"Could...you not fight him _in _the school?"

"If he doesn't bother me, I won't bother him," she said.

"A-Adelheid... if you tell him that if he fights you in school, the two of you will destroy it," Tsuna said. "That should stop him."

Adelheid looked at Tsuna. "I'll keep that in mind." She stalked off somewhere and the rest of them headed to class.

"Class, today students who have been here before has returned," their teacher said. "You can come in!" Enma opened the door and walked in gloomily. Shittopi-chan was behind him. She still had her odd costume.

This time, his face sported no bandages except for the one on his nose.

"It's that kid again," a bully snorted to his friend. Enma bowed to the class and went to his seat.

In another class, Aoba was given some sort of the same treatment except that the teacher wasn't exactly pleased to see him. _Another idiot has joined the class... _she sighed.

* * *

><p><strong>Outside Nami-Middle<strong>

Kenshin stayed outside for another ten minutes before he moved on. He walked down the road and turned the corner. He spotted the red mail box with the word POST on it along with the post symbol; a T with a horizontal line over it.

_This would be easier if they gave me two more people to work with, _he thought sadly.

"Oh, my!" Kenshin looked down and saw bouncing tangerines. He bent down and picked them up. To his right, was an old lady trying to hold the remaining ones that didn't fall out of the bag.

"Here you go," Kenshin said with a smile.

"Thank you very much, young man," she said. Then she asked, "Would you be so kind to help me hold those until we reach my home?"

"Yes, that's fine," he said. _I still have time. They won't be going anywhere while in school. _"Here, let me carry that as well," he reached for the back pack she had on. She smiled her thanks and they walked.

"I haven't seen you around before," Granny said. _(A/N: I'm just going to call her granny.)_

"Yes, I just moved in on Sunday."

"Mm..." They turned a corner and she stopped. "Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?" Kenshin was about to refuse, but then he saw the house next to them: Sawada Residence.

"Sure! Thanks, Granny!" They went in. _I hope I can get some information on Sawada Tsunayoshi. _Inside, he helped put the fruit on the table and sat down, looking around the kitchen. Granny's house was basically the same as his target's house, but it was much quieter.

"Here you go," she had a steaming tea set in front of them

"Thank you."

"Yes, yes. It's rare to see people with kind manners nowadays."

"I guess...Granny...?"

"Hm?"

"Are you familiar with the Sawada family?"

"_Oh_, yes. Yes, yes!"

Kenshin sat closer. "What do you think about Tsunayoshi-kun?"

"Let's see...he's a good boy, I'm sure of that. He and his mother live alone. His father works on oil drilling and traffic managing all around the world, so he's never home. But they are a very loving couple."

"Has anything _odd _happened lately?"

Granny sipped her tea and thought. "Tsunayoshi finally has friends now, and I'm happy for him. They visit him every day."

"What do you mean by _finally _has friends?" She laughed.

"Oh, haha, well you see, ever since he was a child, he hasn't made any close friends. You know how it's lonely when you don't have friends, right? So I was beginning to worry for him. But he has so many friends, now that he has started middle school! Now, about _odd..._Tsunayoshi seems to get injured more than usual, and they shoot fireworks in the middle of the day." She cackled like a friendly witch.

_You mean dynamites and grenades..._

"There was even once when a handsome young man came to his door with a lot of men dressed in black..." her eyes wandered as she remembered. "It was quite a shock at first."

"Are you talking about this person?" Kenshin slid a picture of Dino Bronco and Romario onto the table. Granny held the picture closer.

"Yes, yes. That's him. The other man with the moustache is always near him."

"Do you know his name?"

"No...I haven't actually spoken to them before. He visits them from time to time."

Kenshin nodded. "This tea is really good."

"Why, that's nice of you to say. It took me many years to perfect it!"

"Did you notice anything else about them?" Kenshin pestered.

"Mmm...Tsunayoshi has matured quiet a bit."

"Oh. Well...thanks, Granny!"

"Come again any time you like!" She saw him out the door.

_No new information, _Kenshin frowned. _This might take years. The Vongola is currently under the leadership of the ninth. It will be a while before Sawada gets involved with actual shipping and dealings of the mafia. But he _could _be passing the drugs to other people and receive the money. No one would suspect a teenager. _He unlocked his front door and slipped inside. He changed his white shirt for a green one, put on blue shades and headed back out. He walked around town and stopped in front of the Namimori Central Hospital.

"_Tsunayoshi seems to get injured more than usual," _was what Granny told him. He went in.

"Hello, are you here for a visit?" A nurse asked with a smile.

"N...no. I'm here to look at some records." He showed her his detective badge. She faltered for a moment.

"Right this way..." She gave him a cautious glance and guided him to where they kept all their patients' files. They were stopped by the person managing it.

"Why do you want to look at the files, sir?" He asked Kenshin.

"Secret investigation," he said. "I need to look at the hospital file of a few people. Could I look at them in private?" The man considered this with a frown.

"You have fifteen minutes."

"Thanks." They left and shut the door. Kenshin sat on the chair and searched.

Sawada Tsunayoshi:

He skimmed through the things he already knew about and stopped when he found the times he was in the hospital. Most of them were sprains and cracks bones. That was two years ago. The list went on. There was once when he had to stay in the hospital for a few nights. He had to have his room moved a few times: once because his visitors scared the other patients, another because they were so handsome the nurses couldn't concentrate, and then they finally put him in a small, deserted room. His injury was a broken leg, something he seemed to have avoided until that point. He bit his lip when he noticed the dates. The visits became more and more frequent. He opened another file, keeping Tsuna's on a different tab.

Gokudera Hayato:

Gokudera only moved to Namimori a while ago, so his wasn't as big and there wasn't a lot of information. Once, he came in with severe burns but was released after just a day.

_Nothing on him, _Kenshin thought. The date was suspiciously close to when Tsuna's visits grew closer and closer. _Hang on... that's just a few months after Gokudera transferred to Nami-Middle. Sawada's injuries... became more frequent around then...hm._

Yamamoto Takeshi:

Nothing stuck out with the baseball maniac. Being on the baseball team meant he was very careful to not get injured. The thing that stuck out was that he only began to visit the hospital around the time Gokudera moved in. Once he almost had his eye cut out. Luckily, it didn't happen. Again, that was just a few days before Gokudera's strange burns. Kenshin's eyes widened as he saw the next accident, just a while ago, near the time the Shimon students transferred to Nami-Middle because of an earthquake. Yamamoto was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, almost losing his life. He stayed in the ICU for about a week with cuts and holes in his body. There was also a chance that he could never use his legs again. During that time, his friends and father had made many visits. But then, for a full week, none of his friends even appeared in the hospital. Not a one. _Where did they all go? _Then miraculously, Yamamoto awoke from his comma almost fully healed. The doctors who looked at him said it was a miracle. He was told to not move about or strain his body too much.

Sasawaga Ryohei:

He had many injuries. Most of them were throughout the years of elementary school. Kenshin noted the time he was beaten up by a bunch of bullies. _Maybe that's where he got his scar. _Then there was that strange fight against Kokuyo Middle and Nami-Middle. Ryohei became a victim at that time as well. He had a few teeth knocked out and a cast on his leg and arm. He read some more and sure enough, Ryohei also went to the hospital the _same week_ Yamamoto and Gokudera did as well.

_Who else...ah, yes, that prefect who was at the party. They didn't seem close, but he was invited._

Hibari Kyoya:

_No data._

"What?" Kenshin stared at the screen. The only thing it showed him was his name. Not even blood type, age, or anything for that matter. Then he tried again.

This time, the results were interesting. It appears that he is a VERY IMPORTAN PERSON in the hospital. Even the Director respects him, thanking him for keeping the hospital peaceful.

"He's only in middle school," Kenshin muttered.

"Whatever. Let's see the other people." He typed in another name. "What's his last name?" Then shrugged; it shouldn't matter.

Lambo:

Also in the same week, Lambo was hospitalized. He wasn't released from the hospital until the end of the week. The reason was that he got shocked by lightening outside and rolled down a hill. "That seems pretty serious for a little kid."

Reborn:

_No data_

"Hmph. That was just extra. There's no reason why a baby would need to go to the hospital—except for Lambo's case, which is rare..."

Chrome Dokuro:

She stayed in the hospital for a day after Yamamoto was released. Nothing fatal.

Then Kenshin checked the data to see whether there were other people brought into the hospital during that week. He found one man without a name registered. It was the same day Yamamoto went to get his eye patched up. This unknown man suffered from shark bites, cuts and bruises. Then he was out of the hospital in the middle of the night.

_Something concerning the tenth Vongola Family and this man is involved. Something definitely happened that week._

The door opened. "Sir, are you finished?"

"Yes. Thank you for your cooperation." He left with only his thoughts to keep him company.

_All that happened roughly around the time he started middle school. So I'm guessing he got into the mafia business around that time. Before that, his only injuries were from carelessness. Now, the injuries of him and those of his friends seem to be from serious fighting. Yamamoto's file is the most interesting. Was he targeted by someone? He was found in the baseball changing room, which meant it was done in the school. Who did it?_

Kenshin left the hospital and walked into the Shopping District. He saw Sawada Nana buying groceries. At the same time, she also spotted him and smiled.

"Ah, Nori-san! Are you doing some shopping?"

"Er, no, I was just walking around." Nana nodded.

They walked and talked about a variety of things while Kenshin tried to fit Tsuna into the conversation without her being too suspicious; but here was nothing to worry about because she didn't have a drop of doubt in her. He could ask her about anything and she wouldn't question him.

They ended up sitting in a cafe. Nana started telling him about Tsuna as a young child.

"Oh, so he was always not that good at school," Kenshin mused.

"Yes. And just a year ago, I received a flyer in the mail. And that is when Reborn-kun entered our life."

"From a flyer in the mail?" Kenshin asked sceptically. Nana laughed.

"Oh, no. He said that he will tutor Tsu-kun as long as he gets a place to eat and sleep."

"But this Reborn...he's a baby."

"Yes, but he's very smart for someone so young! So I took him up on his offer."

"Has Tsuna improved?"

Nana put a finger to her lips. "He has been getting better slowly. Reborn-kun's friends always visit us. Tsu-kun's friends also come for dinner now and then. It's so lively now! Our family has grown very big. I'm proud of him. Sometimes, I see his father in him!" She began to twiddle her thumbs and blush. "He has definitely grown ever since Reborn-kun came."

"That's really interesting," Kenshin muttered to himself.

"What?"

"Hn? Oh—nothing. Have you noticed anything strange or worrying about him—like, staying away from home or school?" Nana looked puzzled.

"There was that time when he , Lambo-kun and Reborn-kun would sneak out in the middle of the night, but I don't know what they were up to. It was that time when Lambo-kun got hit by lightening when he was walking with them. That time _was _really worrying. Lambo-kun had to stay at the hospital. Then at the end of the week, Tsu-kun came home exhausted and Reborn-kun said to let him rest for a week."

"So, they stayed out at night and you don't know what they're doing?"

"No...Iemitsu just told me to help them as much as I can and don't ask them too much."

_So his dad knows about the mafia, or at least, what his son was up to._

"Sawada-san, was Iemitsu-san in Namimori when it happened?"

"He was here for a while, but then he said he had to go back to check on his boss."

_...It would make sense if he was in the mafia...and then he got his son involved. Checking on the ninth—did something happen to him? So many questions and not enough answers. What is Tsuna and his friends sneaking out to...to do what? Drugs? They don't look like they've been taking drugs. But then again, that was like...half a year ago? But it's hard to stop taking drugs if you're addicted. _

"Have you heard of the mafia?" He asked. He knew he was risking it, but...

"The mafia? You mean those gangs? Yes, I have, but I haven't seen any before."

"They wear black business suits most of the time, and are usually together in groups of about five or six. You haven't seen any like that?"

"Oh, of course not," she giggled. "Except for Dino-kun's friends, no one else dresses up that nicely!"

Kenshin sweat dropped. _Which would lead most people to think that they're in the mafia, _he thought.

Nana's eyes lit up and she said, "There was also the time when they got lost in the mountains for three days just recently."

"Three days? That's a long time."

"Hm, yes, but at least they're all back safely."

"Did you notice Tsuna-kun bring anything back with him? Like, a package?"

"No, but he did get a package from a friend of his. It was a box of something."

"A box?" Kenshin's mind raced. _A box could hold anything; weapons, money, or secret messages. _"Do you know what's inside it?"

"No," she said. But I'm guessing it's just head phones."

"Why do you think that?" He asked quickly.

"He went upstairs to his room to open it, and he came back down wearing a set of red headphones. He left right after that, not even bothering to change out of his dirty clothes," Nana tsked disapprovingly.

_Headphones. Maybe there's a voice message in it. I have to take a look at them._

"Mama," a feminine voice called. They turned and saw Bianchi.

"Oh, it's Bianchi!" Nana exclaimed.

"And me!" Dino popped up beside her. Kenshin tensed at the sight of the young boss. He recognised the tattoo and his blond hair.

"Why is everyone here?" Nana asked. She made room for them.

"I just happened to walk by," both of them said. Bianchi gave Dino a look that clearly said, "Don't you dare use my excuse." And Dino backed away. "Yo...I thought that you might want some help with carrying those bags back home..."

"That's so sweet of you, Dino-kun!" Nana said. "I'd appreciate it."

"I guess I'll get going then," Kenshin said. "I'll pay for the cheque."

"That was risky," Dino murmured to Bianchi once Kenshin was out of the cafe.

"Hn."

* * *

><p><strong>After school<strong>

Kenshin waited outside Nami-Middle to see them come out.

"Gaha! It's Nori!" Lambo screamed.

"Eh...Hello, Lambo. What are you doing here all alone?"

"I'm a hitman! I'm going to attack Tsuna!" He said and took out a bag of grape candy he's been storing in his hair. He ate one and pointed to Kenshin.

"Since you found out about my plan, I'll have to kill you first!" He replaced the bag and took out a grenade and threw it at Kenshin once he pulled the pin out. He jumped back a pace and laughed that childish-but-evil laugh of his.

"Whoa!"

BOOM!

"Shoot..." Kenshin muttered. His shirt and pants were a mess and his hair had some scorch marks on it.

"You're not dead yet! Go die!" Lambo threw two more at him.

"Yikes!" He rolled away just out of range of the exploding bombs.

"Lambo! What are you doing here!" Tsuna asked. He heard explosions and quickly ran to the gate. What he saw horrified him. _Hibari-san's going to bite me to death! _

"Never mind—we have to get out of here!"

"Tsuna! I'm going to kill you!" Lambo declared and threw three bombs at Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Enma, and Shittopi-chan.

"Watch out, Juudaime!" Gokudera had ten dynamites between his fingers on both hands. He threw them at the oncoming grenades and both exploded midair, on top of Kenshin who tried to cower into the ground.

"Gah! Gokudera-kun! Hibari-san's coming!" Tsuna yelled. He tugged at his friend's arm and they ran. He happened to also catch Lambo's sleeve and dragged him along although he probably didn't deserve it.

"Sawada! Where are you running to?" Ryohei yelled. "WAIT FOR ME!" He ran after them.

"Wow, what happened here?" Hana asked. Kyoko looked at the wreckage.

"Oh, that's Nori-san!" She rushed to the older man's side. "Nori-san, are you okay?"

"Ughhh... I'll live..."

"What happened here?" Hibari asked. His eyes were wide and filled with anger.

"It must have been that bomber boy and his boss again," Adelheid said as she looked at the scene. "And also some grenades were used."

Hibari growled dangerously and everyone else who was planning on leaving quickly retreated back into the safety of the school walls.

"_I will bite them all to death."_ He began to stalk off but stopped. "You—get someone to fix this place up," he said to the janitor who was also watching.

"H-Hai!"

* * *

><p><strong>Later On<strong>

Kenshin arrived home and rubbed his back. He went to his first aid kit and took out the bandages. He suffered from some crazy kid's bombs and now his body hurt like hell. Once that was all done, he went to check his voice message.

Two missed calls. The first was from the lieutenant who hired him. The second one was from an informant.

He took a quick shower and called the lieutenant.

"_Hello?"_

"Lieutenant, it's me."

"_Oh. About your reports—I want your explanation for Day Four. You were not trained to exaggerate in your reports, correct?"_

"Sir, I'm not exaggerating. The kids are playing with explosives. And the Chinese girl really exploded when she was thrown out the window by Yamamoto Takeshi."

"_Are you even listening to what you are saying?" _Kenshin blinked.

"Yes, I said that the girl exploded—if Yamamoto hadn't thrown her out, who knows if the house would have remained standing."

"_Do you realise that you sound like a man who has gone completely crazy?" _He demanded. Kenshin winced and pulled the phone away from his delicate ear.

"Sir, I assure you, I'm _not going nuts. _It's true. Haven't you seen the video I sent you?"

"_It was destroyed half way!" _He snapped.

"By Lambo's grenades," Kenshin finished. "They aren't up to anything yet, but I have also told you someone else is here."

"_That's their problem. Don't interfere with Mafia Wars."_

"But Sir, they are teenagers. No more than fifteen."

"_I don't care! Your job is to find out what they're up to!" _The lieutenant roared. Kenshin moved the phone further away.

"Yes Sir," he said.

"_Is there anything else to report?"_

"Sir, about the new kids who showed up in town—the teenager, Mukuro, said something about Shimon. I think that they are a mafia family as well."

"_I had someone check Shimon in our records. There isn't a single family, no matter how small, called Shimon."_

"Yes Sir." He hung up. Kenshin sighed and rubbed his head.

"_Am I _going crazy? Or am I just getting used to their craziness so much I think it's the new norm?" He looked at the remaining message. His informant had left him one. He listened to it.

"_Hey there—I got a few answers that might help. So, the first one, about the Shimon. There isn't much about them, except that if they're in the mafia, they have a town and school named after them; that, I'm pretty sure, because I found something interesting in their hideout. Don't ask how I got in. Anyways, I picked up this book, and lucky me, it was the history of the famiglia. They date back to about two hundred years ago to the time the Vongola was created. Shimon's Primo is Shimon Cozart—note the Italian—who is supposedly Vongola Primo, Giotto's best friend but Giotto betrayed Cozart during a battle and Cozart was torn to shreds. Kinda mean, don't you think? But the words were half scorched out so I'm assuming the current Shimon Family doesn't agree with the text book, huh._

"_And also, according to the locals, their leader is Adelheid. But I suspect that it's a quiet boy named Kozato Enma. Don't you think the last name is similar to Cozart? Heheh. And, they have started a vigilant group to protect the weak—it sounds noble. So yeah, the kids from Shimon are the Shimon Family, though they have become such a small and insignificant family, most of the Mafia has forgotten about them._

"_Now, the second thing. I understand why you think that you've heard the name Reborn before. He is an infamous hitman, the best in the business. He works for Vongola the Ninth. But you mentioned that this Reborn is a baby. No, Reborn the hitman is _not _a baby. He is a grown adult in his young adult years. So no, I think that baby just shares the same name."_

Kenshin snapped his phone shut and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"So...the Shimon Family has also appeared." He winced as he stretched tired muscles and flinched as the first gunshot of the night rang in the neighbourhood, coming from the house across from his.


	9. The Hitomi Siblings

**Chapter Nine**

Tsuna stopped running once they were at his house. He looked behind him. _Huff...Good thing Hibari-san isn't chasing us yet! But I'll probably get another beating..._

He still hurt from the one sided fight Hibari had with him during lunch for not being able to fight him on Saturday.

"Good, you're back!"

"_HIIIIE! _R-Reborn? Stop scaring me like that!"

"Get everyone inside, Dame-Tsuna. And have Ryohei check your arm while you're at it." Tsuna sighed.

"Hai, hai..." The boss said tiredly. His friends followed him inside.

"I'm home!" He yelled and slammed the door behind him.

"Hello, Tsuna." Bianchi leaned against the wall. Tsuna blinked foolishly. He turned to his right, where he could see Gokudera's face twist in pain.

"A-Aneki..." Gokudera groaned and turned green as he collapsed.

"G-Gokudera! And Bianchi...what are you doing here?"

"Hey, lil' bro!" Dino sat on the stairs. Romario stood beside him. He smiled and nodded at the teens.

"_Dino-san_ as well?"

"I thought I'd stay for a while. Your dad went somewhere with that pupil of his and asked me to protect you. I'll be hanging around town for a few days but I need to go back by Friday."

"A-Ah..."

"But he's mostly here for Mama's food," Reborn said. He tilted his fedora up and grinned.

"Reborn..." Dino said with a nervous laugh. "Always joking—but I wouldn't mind having dinner as well!" He said quickly.

"Yeah..." Tsuna's mouth twitched into a slight smile. He and Yamamoto went to pick their unconscious friend off the ground. Bianchi pushed herself off the wall and walked towards them.

"I'll tend to him," Bianchi said. Reborn sat on Yamamot's left shoulder and turned to face her.

"Bianchi, bring him up to Tsuna's room." She nodded and half dragged her loving brother up the stairs. Dino stepped out of the way and said to Tsuna, "We saw your detective talking to Mama."

"_HIIIEE! D-Did Kaa-san tell him anything?" _Tsuna cried. Reborn whacked him on the head with a Leon-flyswatter. _Ow... _he thought and knew better than to complain outloud.

"I'm not sure," Dino answered seriously. "She doesn't know about the mafia in the first place so there isn't anything for her to tell. But if he asked questions like where you have been going off to for the last few weeks, then..." He shrugged. "Oh right—I also bumped into Kyoya today."

_HIIIEE..._

"The director of the hospital told him that a detective went to look at the records of you and your guardians."

"H-Hold on...Hibari-san told you that and he didn't kill you?" Tsuna asked. He opened his bedroom door and sat by the table. Gokudera was on his bed with a wet towel over his forehead.

Dino rubbed his back painfully.

"We _did_ have a fight…but because Romario wasn't with me, it was shorter than usual… and he told me to get rid of the herbivore that's ruining the peace of Namimori."

_That makes sense... _Tsuna thought.

"I half expected him to tell me to kill the dude!" Dino joked.

"D-Don't!"

"Calm down, Tsuna. I won't do that…" Tsuna sagged with relief. "Unless there's no other choice."

"I hope it doesn't come to that then," the brunet said. _I haven't actually seen Dino-san kill someone before.._.has_ he actually...?_

"SAWADA! LET'S SEE HOW YOU'RE DOING!" Ryohei was pumped with adrenaline, like always.

"A-Ah...right." He pulled up his sleeve and Ryohei stretched his sun flames to seep through the cast and onto the wound. Tsuna instantly felt a warm feeling run through his veins, recharging his energy.

"It's almost healing to the _extreme_," he said. "I must have guessed wrong. Sawada will probably be better in two or three days."

"Two days? Not a week?" Tsuna asked. "A-Are you sure, Onii-san?" Ryohei nodded confidently.

"Even though it heals much slower, Sawada's wounds heal faster than normal people's do. So, two days." Reborn hopped onto the table.

"That's good news. Tsuna will be able to train for a while to get ready for the attack."

"I totally forgot about that!" Reborn eyes sharpened and he kicked Tsuna beneath the chin.

"A boss can never forget important things concerning the family!"

"Let's start on our homework, eh?" Yamamoto said when Tsuna groaned, which proved he was still alive. "I'm having trouble with the math questions and I was hoping Gokudera could help us with it."

"Me too," Tsuna said.

"What are you talking about, Dame-Tsuna? _I'm _your tutor. If you have any problems, ask me." His student gave him a sideways glance.

_But whenever I ask a stupid question I get blasted...And that is almost all the time, _he thought in horror.

"If you don't finish your homework I'll shoot you."

"_HIIIIEEEE! _Don't shoot! It won't help!" Reborn lowered the gun. It turned back to Leon the Chameleon.

"Hn. Maybe I should have you go to school in your Hyper Dying Will Mode from now on. That way, you can concentrate in class."

"T-That won't be a good idea! What happens if they see the flame on my forehead?"

"_Tsk. _If you don't want to go to school in that mode, then you better pay attention to what I'm teaching you."

"R-Right..." Reborn showed them which equations to use and how to start. Once they understood the basics, he made them memorize the formula, and then shredded the example paper. Tsuna practically cried. Yamamoto laughed.

"I still don't get it to the _extreme!" _Ryohei said.

"You won't get it if I just show you," Reborn said. "Maybe I can substitute the numbers and variations into punches and kicks." He did just that. In just a few seconds, a battered Ryohei lay on Tsuna's floor looking dazed.

"Onii-san, are you okay?"

"Senpai looks like he was just hit by a truck, hahahah!" Yamamoto said. Tsuna looked at him and was about to say something when Ryohei sat up with fire in his eyes.

"I UNDERSTAND HOW TO DO IT TO THE _EXTREME, _MASTER PAO PAO!" Yamamoto and Tsuna started at the comment.

"You do?"

"Ugh..." Gokudera was coming around. His eyes opened slightly. "Juudaime?"

"Gokudera-kun! How are you feeling?"

"W-Where's my sister?"

"She said that she was going to make you a cup of tea," Yamamoto said. Ryohei was in the background punching in the air with a pencil balanced on the bridge of his nose.

"Hah...?" Gokudera's face paled at the thought. "Uh, Juudaime, I think I'm going to go home a bit early today...bye."

"U-uh...okay… Ciao..." Tsuna said absentmindedly. Gokudera darted to the window, looked down, left, right, and jumped. "G-Gokudera-kun?" He rushed to the window in time to see his friend run for his life up the street with Bianchi right behind him.

_... _Tsuna's mind was blank for a moment until Reborn half kicked him out the window. Tsuna screamed and flailed until he had a firm grip on the frame.

"What was that for?"

"Do your homework, Dame-Tsuna. Ryohei's already half done."

"Eh?" He looked at him. Indeed, Ryohei had stopped doing boxing moves and was scribbling numbers into his book. _I-Is he even doing it correctly?_

After the homework, Yamamoto and Ryohei left.

"TSUNA! IT'S TIME FOR DINNER!" Lambo screamed. He barged in and jumped on the brunet's back which had them both fall to the ground.

"Okay, okay! You didn't have to tackle me!" He grumbled and got to his feet. Dino laughed.

"You're well loved by your family, Tsuna." Tsuna opened his mouth to correct him, but sighed instead. He opened the door and left with Lambo on his head, pulling his hair this way and that as if he was a horse. Dino and Reborn exchanged a victorious smirk with each other before going down as well.

"Whaa-a-a!" Dino slipped and bumped his was down the stairs. Tsuna and Lambo, who were only half way down, got caught in it as well.

"Ahh! … Egh..." They fell on the landing like a sack of potatoes.

"Oh my! Are you two playing again?" Nana asked and giggled. "You can play later. Aren't you hungry?"

Dino gave her charming smile. "I always have enough room in me for Mama's food." He helped Tsuna to his feet. Reborn was already in the kitchen sitting on a chair with about a dozen pillows so that he could reach the top.

_How did he get there so fast? _Dino and Tsuna blinked at their tutor for half a minute before Nana noticed.

"Eh? Tsu-kun, Dino-kun, don't you doing to sit?"

"Yeah...just...confused..." Tsuna replied. Nana laughed.

"Baka Tsuna's always confused!" Lambo spitted out rice as he spoke.

"Lambo! It's not nice to call people that!" I-pin said.

"Baka I-pin!" Lambo stuck his tongue out at her.

"Na!" They bickered. Tsuna wolfed down his dinner before Reborn could steal any. The hitman still managed to get a quarter of it.

"_You need more practice," _Reborn told him in Italian. Dino laughed at Tsuna's misfortune.

"You should look after your own food," Reborn said.

"You can't steal my food!" Dino challenged. Reborn smirked.

"I don't need to; half of it is already on the table." Dino looked down. Sure enough, his shirt had a few specks of rice and _his_ side of the table had even more, plus some of the meat and vegetables.

"Where did Romario go?" Tsuna wondered.

"He said he was going for a drink with Kusakabe," Dino said gloomily.

"I-pin's not fair!" Lambo's complaint interrupted the conversation. He took out a grenade.

"L-Lambo! No bombs at the dinner table!" Tsuna shrieked. "Please—_not here!" _Lambo looked at him and grinned mischievously.

"Beg me."

"No!" he exclaimed. "Just don't blow us up during meal times! I'll buy you takoyaki if you don't!"

"Yahaa!" Lambo cheered. He threw the grenade away. Tsuna quickly picked it up and put it in his pocket. _How many does he _have _in his hair? _He thought.

* * *

><p>The next day, Kenshin received a phone call which woke him up from his light sleep.<p>

"Hello?"

"Yo, detective-san!" A cheery voice greeted.

"Hn? Who is this?"

"I work under the lieutenant. I have some good news you might want to hear." He sat up in bed.

"What?"

"There are two people available in Namimori who can help you with the case."

"Why haven't I been told of this before?"

"Well...I just found out that they live in Namimori, you know? It's a brother and a sister. Both of them are trained agents, so they can help you to some extent. They're paying you a visit today in the afternoon."

"Exactly who are they?"

"The older brother, Hitomi Masahiro is twenty-three and the younger sister, Hitomi Masami is twenty."

"They're pretty young."

"Young, but well trained. They know how to keep their cool in a tight situation. Oh—they're also carrying weapons."

"You just _had _to add that in," Kenshin muttered. He, as a private investigator, didn't usually have a gun on him.

"So anyways, they're about five feet eight and seven inches. Both have brown hair and green eyes—"

"Brown hair and _green _eyes?"

"Pfft, yeah, what do you expect? They're half Italian on their mother's side. They were born with blonde hair, but they do most of their missions in Japan, and that foreign colour sticks out too much. They sometimes wear contacts but they aren't going to in this case."

"I see…" _No, I don't see, _he thought. _So they just happen to be Italian, eh?_ He looked at the clock. There was still half an hour before his target's house played their war zone sound track.

"How long have they been working with the police for?"

"Roughly…" he heard a piece of paper being flipped, "Wow. About eight years."

"WHAT?"

"Ow-_w_...? Please refrain from shouting in my ear?" he said in a questioning tone. "They were recruited at a young age after their parents died on their own mission—yes, they were also agents. Apparently, they taught their kids some stuff. They told the police that they knew where the druggies were hidden, but—"

"Are you talking about that _huge _case that took five years to arrest the entire gang?" Kenshin interrupted.

"_Yes," _the man was irritated. "Anyways, the police didn't believe them, and after that, they forgot about the two kids until one day Hitomi Masami dragged an unconscious and tied leader of the group right in front of the police headquarters. She threw pictures at the officer who met her at the front gate, which was evidence that he was the leader, not to mention a picture of him killing a guy. They charged and arrested the man. Then after they questioned the girl, she mentioned that her brother was still at the gang's hideout keeping an eye on the other people they tied up. And so, it was two kids who solved the case using their parents' leads."

"They…captured the ones who the police have been after for five years? If they can do it, why couldn't the police do it?"

"The gang was wary of adults, but they didn't even notice the little kids who always happened to be around wherever they went."

"So what happened to the kids after that?"

"Well, the chief in the mafia crime department sort of suspected that they might get themselves into more trouble, since they also happen to know how to use a gun perfectly and are black belts so he… recruited them to keep them _out _of trouble, and sent them to spy on targets when they had trouble getting information from the adult spies. They are also pretty smart."

_Child prodigies,_ Kenshin thought. "Have they been to their mother's home country before?"

"Yeah, of course—they took advantage of that and had the siblings look into some mafia families."

"Hm…"

"_I _know what you're thinking. No, they aren't in the mafia. There's no way they can be in the mafia. They've helped up capture at least ten dozen gangs. Why would they be in the mafia if they were capturing them?"

"But what if they're doing that to gain your trust?"

"Seriously, at sixteen—until now? No, I just don't see that happening. Besides, the mafia don't accept anyone who has close contacts with the authorities. Huh, we've talked long enough. Good day to you and I hope you keep your sanity."

_Click._

"Hmph."

* * *

><p>"Tsuna, wake up," Reborn said.<p>

"Nn…"

Reborn hit Tsuna with a hammer.

"Ooff!" Tsuna groaned and his eyes fluttered. "Wha…?"

Reborn cocked the gun. Tsuna's eyes flew open.

"_HIIIEEE! _Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Reborn smirked.

"Time for school." Tsuna's eyes closed and he fell to his bed. Snoring. Reborn wasted no time.

BAM!

The Dying Will bullet hit Tsuna's forehead and his eyes turned orange with a flame visible. His pyjamas were torn off as he jumped out of bed. He wore only his boxers.

"RE…_BORN! _I WILL THROW REBORN OUT OF THE ROOM SO I CAN SLEEP FOR ANOTHER FIVE MINUTES WITH _MY DYING WILL!_ AAARRRGG!" Reborn blinked and blinked again at this _very_ brave and stupid statement. The door slammed open and Dino was there in his black t-shirt and white shorts holding his whip.

"Tsuna! What's going…?" Tsuna picked Reborn up and threw him at the door just as Dino opened it. The only thing the twenty-two year old saw before tumbling down the stairs was a pair of _very familiar _looking feet. Reborn used Dino's face as a landing point and kicked off back into the room.

"ARRRGG!" Tsuna roared madly. He went to get Reborn but this time, Reborn jumped away and punched his student. BOOM! He smacked against the ceiling and came back down unaffected. He charged at Reborn again, this time just aiming to land a blow on him. After five minutes, Tsuna became his normal self. Reborn stood over him, his fedora shading his eyes from the morning sun.

"U-Uhm, Reborn…" Tsuna stuttered, "I…didn't really mean it…?"

* * *

><p>Outside, Kenshin could see the Sawada house shake as if they were having their own miniature earthquake. Added to the quake were screams fit for a horror film. He drank his cup of coffee calmly.<p>

* * *

><p>Reborn walked out the room with not a single hair out of place. <em>In <em>the room, lay a half dressed Tsuna, ninety-eight percent bruised. Reborn avoided the arm for the sake for being able to tor—_ahem_… _train _his student more after he has become fully healed instead of having him die now because the wound reopened.

Tsuna ran out the door after having a late breakfast. Half way to school, he met Gokudera and Yamamoto.

"Good morning, Juudaime!"

"Hey, Tsuna!"

"Good morning!" He slowed to a walk.

"This baseball freak was just telling me that your arm will be fully recovered the day after tomorrow, Juudaime! Thank god for that!"

"Y-Yeah! But…are you ready for Saturday? I have no idea what we should do," Tsuna whispered to his two friends as they walked in the hall. Both of them were silent for a moment, and then Yamamoto started laughing. Gokudera glared at him.

"What are you laughing for?"

"Hahah, well, I was just thinking that everything usually works out okay in the end," he said. Tsuna looked unconvinced. Yamamoto's right long, athletic arm snaked behind Tsuna's back and jabbed Gokudera's arm. Tsuna failed to notice this. Gokudera gave Yamamoto a questioning glare. In reply, he just thrust his chin at their friend's downcast face. Gokudera's mouth made an O.

"Don't worry, Juudaime! We'll do just fine! Every single one of us has been training very hard! Even that Dokuro girl; Mukuro has been teaching her some magic tricks." Gokudera shuddered at the memory of seeing Chrome work on the practice moves Mukuro drilled into her head in an empty yard a week ago.

"Trust me on this—nothing bad will happen. We will _all_ come back and celebrate…I'll even drag that skylark along no matter what he says!"

Tsuna's mouth twitched at the thought of Gokudera dragging Hibari down the road with Hibari digging his heels into the dirt, refusing to budge, and Gokudera gritting his teeth and pulling with all his might but going nowhere. The tableau looked very comical.

"Pfft—" he burst out laughing. "Hahaha!"

"See, everyone will do fine," Yamamoto smiled. "Put some faith in us!"

"Thanks you two," Tsuna said. He felt an unnoticed load lifted from his shoulders.

"Oh, _shoot," _Yamamoto suddenly said.

"Wh-What?" Tsuna looked at his taller friend.

"I forgot we are having a history test today before lunch."

"_Ehh!" _Yamamoto laughed.

"I've been training so hard, I totally forgot about it—ahahaha!"

"Oh, I'm so dead…"

"Juudaime! How about I get the teacher to postpone it to next week for you?" Gokudera already had his dynamites ready. All he was waiting for was Tsuna's approval before he could start "asking nicely".

"G-Gokudera-kun…I don't think that's a good idea…"

"Leave it to me, Juudaime!"

"Ahh! Don't, Gokudera-kun!"

"Now, now, Gokudera! Calm down," Yamamoto laughed. "It won't help if you blow up the classroom with your fireworks again!"

"They're not fireworks, you baseball nut! Juudaime, are you sure?" Tsuna nodded vigorously.

"It's fine, Gokudera-kun. S-So put those away before Hibari-san sees them!"

* * *

><p><strong>Fourth Period<strong>

_Eh…Reborn's going to kill me, _Tsuna thought as he tapped the end of his pencil to his head in the middle of the test. The only thing he wrote down was his name. He looked at the clock anxiously. They had until the end of the class to finish the test. He lowered his head to the desk and tried to think of what to write for the short answers. He half guessed the multiple choice ones, with only a faint recollection on what the topic was about. _Arg! I don't remember where or why or how the dude was assassinated! Something about his friend warning him…and he tried to lure the assassins to a place he could outsmart them…that must be it. _Tsuna nodded and wrote that down. _But…didn't Reborn say that he just went to where it was hard for the assassins to group up and strike all at once…and somewhere that gave him a lot of cover? _Tsuna shut his eyes and was in the process of pulling his hair out. _But he still died, right? Sigh… _Then his head came up.

"Eh?"' Tsuna voiced.

"Sawada, is there a problem?" His teacher sighed. The class turned to look at him.

"Uh…nothing…never mind…" The brunet ignored the laughs and thought of an idea. _Couldn't we also do that with the assassins that are after me? We could fight them in the abandoned warehouses. There, we can keep others who aren't involved out of danger, and we can go all out…_

For the remaining time of the test, he worked his slow brain around this idea…which probably wasn't what he should have been doing during a test.

"Time's up!" Tsuna jumped a little in his seat. The teacher's voice in the silence was like an explosion—and he knew those well. "Drop all pencils and give your test to the person in front of you!" Tsuna looked at the paper and his eyes widened as he realised that he only answered five questions and doodled all over the rest, illustrating random items involved in his mafia life with a poor artistic hand. There were the rings, pacifiers, swords, dynamites, grenades; all sort of things were messily drawn. He tried to erase them.

"SAWADA! What are you doing?"

"N-Nothing!" He tossed his paper to the person sitting in front of him. After collecting the tests, their teacher left the room to eat his own lunch.

"Nnnn!" Yamamoto stretched and made his way to Tsuna's desk. "How was your test?"

"Horrible." Enma and Shittopi-chan also appeared.

"Haha! Same here. I only answered half of the questions!"

"Che! You should have studied while you had time," Gokudera said as he sauntered over.

"How do you think _you _did?" Hana asked. She and Kyoko were at their seats with their lunch boxes out. Kyoko smiled at Tsuna.

"That test was sort of hard, wasn't it, Tsuna-kun?"

"A little…"

"I aced it, of course!" Gokudera yelled at Hana. "That test was so _easy!_"

_Only Gokudera-kun would think that!_

"SAWADA!" Tsuna cringed.

"Onii-chan! Are you going to eat with Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko asked her brother.

"OI! STOP DRAGGING ME! I CAN WALK MYSELF!" Aoba yelled from behind Ryohei. The boxing man ignored the cry and went to Tsuna's desk while dragging him.

"OF COURSE! Come on, let's go to the roof!"

"STUPID TURF-TOP! WE CAN'T GO TO THE ROOF! IT'S TOO OPEN!" Gokudera yelled.

"What do you mean by the roof is too open? A roof is always like that! You get fresh air to the _extreme_!"

"We're eating in the classroom and that's _final!"_ Gokudera smashed his hand to Tsuna's desk as though they were in court, making Tsuna jump. When they were all settled in, Tsuna explained to them what he had in mind.

"But," Yamamoto said, "didn't that guy die in the end?" Gokudera glared as Yamamoto shot down Tsuna's idea.

"You idiot—he was by himself. Juudaime will have his six guardians with him!"

"Seven," Yamamoto corrected. "Don't forget Chrome…and Basil might join us to play this game."

_After everything we've been through, he still thinks the mafia is a game…? No way…he's joking, right? _"So…do you guys think it's a good idea?" Tsuna asked hopefully. He noticed that Ryohei hasn't said a word yet. "Onii-san?"

"I think it's an _EXTREME _idea, Sawada!" He roared.

"Definitely! Juudaime's ideas are the best!"

"It's a good one," Enma mumbled and bit at the chocolate bar.

Yamamoto laughed and agreed. "Should we tell the kid about it?"

"You mean Reborn? Yes, I think we have to tell him."

"Tsuna, you actually thought of a plan," a voice said. "But how did your test come along?" The brunet looked around. _Isn't that Reborn's voice? Where's it coming from?_

_Whiirrrr…_

"HIIIEEEE!" The middle of Tsuna's desk rose to reveal Reborn drinking espresso sitting on a couch. "Reborn! How'd you hide there? It's my desk!"

"Shut up, Dame-Tsuna."

"Reborn…"

"Tsuna's idea is a good one." He repeated Enma's comment, which caused the boy to blink in surprise.

"I-It is?" Tsuna was shocked that Reborn would agree with him.

"Of course. I thought of it in the first place. I was going to tell you all on Friday but I guess now you know."

_So Reborn already thought of it? I should have known…_

"Mama, Iemitsu, I-pin, and Fuuta will be leaving for a trip in Italy tomorrow. They will be back next week after everything is over. Basil is staying with us."

"Wait Reborn-san…how come the Varia isn't dealing with this assassin attack?" Gokudera asked.

"It would be easier if the Varia helped. The mission definitely has a high success rate but Xanxus only works for the ninth. Besides, he wants to see Tsuna dead, so there's no way he would help."

_He didn't need to put it that way… _Tsuna thought to himself. "What about Haru and Kyoko-chan?" He asked.

Reborn replied, "They should be safe. After all, the assassins are not after them. Unless they try to interfere with their plans on killing you, they are safe."

"Oi, are you _extremely _sure?" Ryohei asked.

"Of course I'm sure. I'm the best hitman in the world. I am never wrong." Then he kicked Tsuna.

"Ow! What was that for! I didn't do anything wrong!" He covered his bruising nose.

"We're starting some more training today in the basement."

"The basement?" Yamamoto said curiously. "Is that the room we went into under Tsuna's yard?"

"Yup."

"But that's an interrogation room!" Tsuna said. "How can we train there?"

"It's not _only _an interrogation room. It's also a training room, a safe house, and food storage, in case of emergencies." Gokudera's eyebrows rose.

"That's amazing, Reborn-san!" He smirked.

"I'm still injured!" Tsuna whined.

"The training you are doing today won't need you to fight back so you can take it easy." Tsuna grinned at his luck. Maybe his tutor has a beating heart after all.

"Oh yeah, Tsuna-kun," Enma said suddenly. "We were followed home yesterday. By that detective that was supposed to follow you."

"_E-Eh! _Did he find out you're in the mafia?" Tsuna asked nervously in a whisper. Enma shrugged.

"We need to go back to our own town soon," Shittop-chan said. "The gang there might try to take over again, and then all our hard work will be wasted."

"O-Oh…" Tsuna's heart sank. He didn't want to involve Enma and his friends in his assassinaton problem as well, but if Enma was with him, he had a feeling no one can defeat them. "When will you leave?"

"That depends," Enma said in that gloomy voice of his. "Adelheid's second in command is supposed to call us right away if something goes wrong. It might be tomorrow, next week, or never."

* * *

><p><em>Ding dong!<em>

Kenshin looked through the eye piece of the front door and opened it to admit the Hitomi siblings.

"Hello."

"Good afternoon Kenshin," Hitomi Masahiro greeted. Masami smiled and nodded. "May we come in?"

"Yes, of course." The door widened and they stepped in.

Kenshin began to speak once they were settled on the carpeted floor. "I was thinking that we will meet at my house to discuss the mission. Do you know the people here well?"

"Yes, we do," Masami said. "To them, you are an old friend of ours and we eat dinner together every day. That will be the excuse for why we come over all the time."

"Yes, that's good," Kenshin said. "What do you know of Vongola Decimo?"

Masahiro spoke. "We don't know much about him. But his nature is a kind one and he protects people he likes. He has been in fights with other groups in the mafia. Recently, he is being targeted by a family."

"What do you think of headphones? One came to him in a package a while ago just before he and his friends went missing."

The siblings looked at each other.

"I think it's normal for a teenager to receive headphones. He might be using it for music."

"We have to get our hands on that headphone. I have been in their house before and I know Decimo's mother won't suspect me," Kenshin told them. They nodded.

Masahiro asked, "When will you do it?" Kenshin looked at the clock. It was just a little past lunchtime.

"Now. The target is in school and he won't be around to stop me from searching his room." Masami nodded and smiled.

"We also heard that the listening devices you placed in the house got destroyed by them."

"Yes," Kenshin said bitterly. "Within a week, they were all in pieces. A six year old with grenades and a teenager with dynamites were the cause of it. Whether it was done intentionally or not, it seems to me they have something to hide."

"We will wait here while you go into the Sawada Residence. Here." Masahiro gave Kenshin a small, black bag. He opened it curiously.

"What is it?"

"Communication: you can just clip it to the inside of your shirt and we will hear everything. It's attached to an ear bud which will allow you to listen to what we have to say." Then Masami dumped the rest of the contents onto the table, which were simply five black devices.

"These little things are more bugs you can plant in their home! Water proof, fire proof, possibly even bomb proof!" She gleamed.

"Wonderful." Kenshin tested the com. "Right. I'll be off then." He put the tiny black devices into a pocket and stood.

"Oh wait—wear this as well. It's a camera that we can control from here. We can take pictures and record videos that are instantly saved onto a hard drive," Masahiro said. Kenshin examined the horse shaped pin and noticed a small black dot for the horse's eye.

"Who made is? It's perfect!" He said in awe.

"A friend of ours," Masami said. "She will be glad that you like it."

He pinned it to his breast pocket and walked out the front door. He paused for a moment and decided to also bring a basket full of fruit as a gift. The siblings looked at each other.

"That went well," Masahiro commented.

"Indeed it did."

Kenshin, who walked to the other side, knocked on the door. He heard a muffled _"Coming!"_

The door opened. Nana greeted him with a surprised smile. "Hello, Nori-san! What brings you here?"

"Good afternoon, Sawada-san. I just came to thank you for the party. I know it's a bit late, but I've been busy, fitting in and all."

"Yes, yes, that's fine! Please, come in!"

"Thanks!"

"It's Kenshin!" Lambo screamed and pointed. I-pin took a more subtle approach and bowed.

"Welcome, Kenshin-san!"

"Hello, little ones. How are you?"

"Lambo-san is doing great!" He ran off to Nana. "Mama! Lambo-san wants to eat Yakibuta Ramen!"

"I-pin wants to eat it, too!"

"It's been such a long time since I cooked that," Nana giggled and knelt to eye level with the two. "Alright! Just play for a while and I'll have it ready!" She ushered them and Kenshin into the living room. She went to the fridge to get the ingredients but instead exclaimed, "Oh, dear! I don't have any pork or noodles! But I promised to make them ramen…" Kenshin overheard this and had an idea.

"Sawada-san, what about you go and buy what you need and I'll look after them?" He offered.

"_Nice going, Kenshin!" _Masahiro chuckled through the com.

"Hm…but Lambo-kun and I-pin are a handful," Nana said, unsure. "And Fuuta-kun will be coming for lunch..."

"It's alright! I can handle them!" KEnshin said confidently. "Trust me!" Nana thought for another moment. She smiled.

"Alright, I'll be right back! Please take care of them!" She gathered her wallet and shopping bags.

"Lambo-kun! I-pin! Mama's going to go out to buy some things! Listen to Kenshin-kun while I'm gone, okay?"

"Hai!" They replied.

"Thank you, Nori-san!" She put on her shoes and hummed a happy tune as she walked. Kenshin felt a tug on his pants.

"What?" He looked down to find Lambo and I-pin.

"Kenshin, play with us!"

"Okay…what do you want to play?"

"Tsuna and Lambo-san were playing videogames yesterday but he's not here now! Play videogames with me!"

"And…where are the videogames?"

"Dame-Tsuna's room!" Kenshin lit up.

"Alright! Let's go!" He and Lambo made their way up stairs. I-pin wasn't interested in the videogames, but she followed anyways. Kenshin noticed Iemitsu sprawled on the ground in the living room, sleeping away muttering, "Nana~!" Kenshin raised an eye brow but followed Lambo to Tsuna's room. He helped set up the consol and Lambo began to choose the game.

"See anything interesting?" he muttered.

Masahiro and Masami who were looking intently through the fish-eyed view of Tsuna's room said, "Not yet. Maybe he put them in a drawer." Kenshin nodded absentmindedly and turned his body around.

"I'm the hitman!" Lambo announced with a scream.

"So who am I?" He turned back to the screen.

"You're my target! You have to fight or run away from me! HAHAHAHA!" Kenshin tried to play, but because it was his first time, he didn't know how to use the controls and Lambo didn't bother to explain. He lost badly.

"I-pin, would you like to play first? I want to see how it's done." Kenshin gave I-pin the control. She took it and began to fight against Lambo.

"Lambo-sama is going to crush I-pin!" Kenshin sat on the chair for the desk and slowly opened the first drawer: nothing except for scrap pieces of paper and pencils. Second drawer was the same. The third one, which was also the last one, was tougher to open as if it were stuck. He put a bit more force on it and it popped open. The sound effects from the television screen masked the sounds. He looked at the kids. They were focused on the screen. He looked into the drawer and saw red headphones. There was fluffy black felt to make wearing it more comfortable. Both sides had a red twenty seven on it. Next to the headphones was a small blue box with no engravings on it. He sat on the floor and plucked it out of the drawer and closed it. He put the small box to his right side, where his knees would hide it from view.

"Haha! I got you, I-pin!"

"No you haven't!"

Kenshin opened the lid and found a pair of contact lens. _A pair of contacts and red headphones. _"People usually out things that are related to each other together," he whispered.

"_So the contacts have something to do with the headphones?" _Masami asked.

"_You don't need contacts to use headphones. And Tsunayoshi doesn't need contacts anyways. His eyes work perfectly fine." _Masahiro said. Kenshin slipped the box into his pocket and stuck a bug at the bottom of the drawer.

"No fair, I-pin! You cheated!" Lambo growled when he lost.

"I didn't cheat!"

"Rematch!"

"_Maybe you should take the headphones," _Masahiro suggested.

"No, he might notice it's gone and ask around who's been in his room."

"'Kenshin! It's your turn to face the great Lambo-sama!" Lambo screamed. The door bell rang.

"I'll play with you in a moment," he said and went down to answer the door.

"Hello, Kenshin-nii!"

"Fuuta, is it?" He recalled the name.

"Hai!"

"Sawada-san went out to buy some stuff."

"Where's I-pin and Lambo?" Fuuta kicked off his shoes and put them together neatly.

"They're in Tsuna's room." Fuuta smiled.

"Then I'll go there as well!" Kenshin nodded and was about to close the door when he heard: "Psst!" He raised his eyebrows and turned to his house. Masami was at the door. She mouthed, "Give us the contacts!" Kenshin walked halfway to meet her and tossed it. She caught it and they went back to their business. He opened the door to Tsuna's room and stared. The television was still on, but the three children were nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd they go?" He muttered. The door closed behind him as he stepping in.

"YAAAH!" Three voiced screamed.

"Gah!" Kenshin nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden noise. He fell and hit his head.

"_Oww!" _He said.

"We got you!" Lambo screamed in his ear.

* * *

><p><em>Wheeee! <em>Masahiro winced as the sound traveled through the com. Masami walked in and raised a brow at her brother's facial expression. Then she shrugged and wiggled the box in her hand.

"Got it!"

"Great. Bring it here."

"I'm going to go out to buy something. Be right back."

"Yup. Say hi for me."

"You bet."

* * *

><p>"What the hell are you three doing?" Kenshin asked the kids. They laughed.<p>

"We're playing hitman!" Fuuta said. "You were supposed to be knocked unconscious, though. Tsuna-nii always gets knocked out when he hits the floor."

"Now we have to search you for secret messages!" Lambo screamed again.

"What?"

"A hitman attacks his target and takes back the messages and items the target stole from him," Fuuta explained. "So we have to confiscate any papers or dangerous objects you have on you!"

"What kind of game is this?" Kenshin squawked. He tried to get up but I-pin single handed threw him back on the floor and locked his hands behind his back.

"YAHHAHA! YOU HAVE BEEN DEFEATED BY LAMBO-SAMA, THE GREATEST HITMAN IN THE WORLD!" Lambo stuck a grenade in Kenshin's open mouth. His eyes went wide.

"D-oo—t!" He screamed. Lambo skilfully tied a thin string to the grenade. _This _was one thing he was good at. Kenshin noticed that the other end was already tied to a table leg before he came in.

"Hahaha! Now you can't move unless you want the room to go KAPAA!" Lambo said triumphantly.

"Lambo, don't actually unpin it," Fuuta said. "Tsuna-nii will be mad if we mess up his room again!"

_AREN'T THEY WORRIED ABOUT ME? _Kenshin wailed in his head.

"Search him!" Lambo ordered with a wicked grin plastered on his face.

"There's a bag full of black candies," Fuuta observed.

He tried to say, "No, don't touch that!" but it came out as, "N—mph! Dun toush gaa!"

"Haha! Gimme the candy!" Lambo yelled and hopped on Kenshin's back to snatch the bag of listening devices from Fuuta's hands. He stuffed one into his mouth and chewed.

_Crunch, crunch, crunch! _Lambo spit it out.

"You have bad candy! It doesn't even taste good! I-pin, you can have it!" He tossed it to I-pin.

"I don't want it!"

"Me neither!" Fuuta said. Lambo pouted and shrugged. "Then I'm flushing it down the toilet!" He announced and ran off. Kenshin went limp when he heard the noise of the toilet flushing.

"Did you find anything else?" Lambo asked his subordinates when he came back.

"No," Fuuta said. Then Lambo spotted something shiny. He plucked the horse pin off the shirt.

"This is pretty!" Lambo squealed. "Lambo-san will keep this as an apology for the bad candy!" He put it on his own cow-printed clothing and grinned at Kenshin's widened eyes.

Half an hour later, Nana returned and went straight to cooking. She asked Kenshin to stay for lunch, but he politely refused her and left hastily. She noticed that his mouth seemed redder than usual, and also a bit swollen.

"I wonder what they played while I was gone," she mused. "Oh well!"

Outside, Reborn sat on the ledge.

"Ciaossu, Kenshin."

"Hello, Reborn. Aren't you going to eat lunch with the other kids?"

"I will, in a minute." His head turned to the right, where Hitomi Masami walking towards them. Reborn raised his eyebrows.

"Hello, Kenshin!" Masami waved. "Hello, Reborn-san! Aniki says hi!" Reborn smirked.

"I didn't know you lived around here."

"We don't," Masami piped. "Kenshin's a _good friend _of ours!" She winked at Reborn.

"Take care of your good friend, then," Reborn said.

"Don't worry! We'll take care of him." She bowed and followed Kenshin into the house, who didn't see anything odd about their words.

"Don't go overboard," Reborn muttered. "I'd hate to have to kill two bright young agents." Masami looked at him and winked again.

* * *

><p><strong>After school, in the training room<strong>

_Take it easy, he says—there's nothing easy about this! _Tsuna exclaimed in his head as he EEP'd and jumped to the left to avoid a bullet. It grazed his check ever so slightly.

"You're not concentrating enough," Reborn said. He jumped in the air and aimed at his student for the thirteenth time since they arrived home.

"Why can't I do this in Hyper Dying Will mode?"

"Because it will tire you out with that stupid arm of yours! Besides, it's about time you sharpened your senses without needing to go into hyper mode."

"_HIIIEE!" _Tsuna dived to the right. He felt the air above his hair ripple. _He's trying to kill me! And he's using _real _bullets!_

"Dame-Tsuna, haven't you realised that I predicted your movements?"

_He's right…he knew where I was going… _Tsuna gawked.

"I'm going easy on you. What will happen if I turn off the lights?"

"DON'T TURN THEM OFF!" Tsuna screamed anxiously. Reborn smirked and fired. Tsuna ducked.

_-Flashback-_

"_Reborn, what kind of training are we doing?" Tsuna asked as he and his tutor descended the secret staircase._

"_The enemy you face excels in guns. Not better than me, but good enough to have you pee your pants. If you get even a small scratch, it has the same effect. I need you to be able to dodge the bullets even if you're half asleep or near death."_

"_I can do that in hyper mode…"_

"_If you can, then how did you get hit?" Tsuna said nothing. "Plus, even after the wound heals, you will still be tired and your reactions will be slowed." Before Tsuna could interrupt, he said, "You can easily escape the bullets by using your hard flames, but as you have experienced, you have no control over it and will most likely go flying into a wall."_

"_That's harsh, Reborn…"_

"_If you can dodge a thousand bullets without a single scratch then we can end the training."_

_-Flashback End-_

"Ahh!"

"You don't need to move so dramatically. You're wasting strength by jumping around. Moving a bit is enough to dodge a bullet."

"But I move too slowly!

"Then move faster!" Reborn shot again. Before he did, Tsuna saw the gun twitch and moved to the opposite direction.

"Awesome!" Tsuna said.

"That was on purpose," Reborn grinned evilly. Tsuna's smile dropped. A warning shot had Tsuna hopping on his toes. He looked for his tutor and found him on top of a crate.

BAM! Tsuna ducked.

"Good job avoiding that one. Now you need to avoid nine hundred and ninety-nine more." The brunet groaned. "Focus!" He ordered and fired.

"EEEP!" He ran.

"Stop thinking nonsense and plan your actions!" _He's right, _Tsuna thought. _My head's filled with fear…but how can it _not _when he's shooting at me? Um…first I have to um…stop…thinking? _He thought crazily as he saw Reborn aim for him and ducked out of sight behind a metal table—what kind of training room was this?

Reborn ceased fire for a moment. Tsuna caught his breath and wiped sweat from his brow. He peeked out and let out a yelp when a bullet _ping_ed off against the metal. He decided to run to the next shelter since Reborn's voice was getting closer.

"Dame-Tsuna can't hide for more than one minute."

"SOMEONE SAAAAVE MEEEE!" Tsuna screamed as Reborn let out a round of bullets to chase after his student.

* * *

><p>Tsuna collapsed on his bed after Reborn stopped their training for the day. His mother passed by the door with a basket of unwashed clothes.<p>

"Eh? Tsu-kun, did you fall again?"

"Huh?"

"You have scratches all over your face," she said worriedly. "And your clothes are a mess! Hurry and go take a shower. I'll wash your clothes."

His muscles groaned as he sat up. For training that didn't need him to fight back, he was dead tired.

Once he finished with his shower, he bumped into Lambo in the hall.

"Huh? Lambo, are you okay? Sorry, I didn't see you there."

"Baka Tsuna!" Lambo said. "A slave isn't supposed to hurt their master!"

"Nnn! Who are you calling a slave?" Tsuna exclaimed. He bent down and tickled Lambo until he gave in.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Dame-Tsuna, STOP!" He laughed hysterically. Tsuna chuckled and went downstairs holding Lambo.

"Lambo, what's that on your shirt?" He noticed the pin.

"I took it from Kenshin for giving me bad candy!"

"_Kenshin-san? _When did you see him today?" Tsuna asked.

"He came for lunch," I-pin squeaked and hopped into Tsuna's arms as well. She clambered onto his shoulder.

"But he didn't eat with us," Fuuta said. He met them at the bottom of the stairs. "Maybe Lambo scared him too much."

"NYAHAHA! Of course I did!" Lambo said.

"Lambo, you can't just steal things from people," Tsuna lectured. "Give it back to him after dinner!"

"Stingy-Tsuna!" Lambo pouted, but didn't refuse, which was odd.

They went into the kitchen, where Reborn was sipping his espresso. Basil sat beside him. He smiled up at Tsuna.

"Hello, Sawada-dono!"

"Hey, Basil-kun," he greeted, and then turned back to Lambo. "What did he do while you guys were here?" Tsuna asked curiously.

"We played videogames!"

"Videogames?"

"And also live hitman!" Fuuta said. "But we had to stop when Mama came home."

"H-How did you play hitman…?" Tsuna was afraid to know. Lambo described what they did perfectly. After all, there was no shame in saying how they knocked down a grown man. But I-pin had to correct him when Lambo said _he_ was the one who stopped Kenshin from getting back up.

"So you guys were in my room? And you could have blown it up?" Tsuna's voice went up level.

"But we didn't," Lambo protested. Nana put a plate of food in front of him and he ate with gusto. Tsuna finally noticed that the table was covered with food fit for a king.

"Waaaa! What's with all the food?" Tsuna's eyes sparkled and he licked his lips.

"Are? We're leaving tomorrow, so this is a farewell meal!" Nana sang. "Eat up! I put all my love in it!"

"Thanks for the food!" The rest of them said before digging in.

"I wish Tsu-kun could come with us," Nana told her husband as they ate.

"A-Ah, well he has to go to school, right?" Iemitsu said. "We can't have him miss any classes!"

"Y-Yeah, you can take a break from taking care of like…eight people in the house," Tsuna said. "It must be exhausting."

"Why isn't Lambo-kun coming with us?" Nana wondered. Tsuna had no answer for this. He stupidly left his mouth opened and uttered a single note: "Ah…"

"Lambo-san wants to fight!" He said. Tsuna tried to cover his mouth but it was too late. Nana thought nothing of it, just like the time when Lambo told her they went into the future.

"Alright…Oh, I asked Bianchi to come over to take care of you all," Nana remembered.

"Ugh…you don't mean…"

"Yes! She'll be living here while we are gone!" Nana smiled.

"And does that mean…"

"Mmhmm! She'll be taking care of the cooking!" Tsuna could have fainted then and there but instead he asked, "C-Could we just order take-out…? W-We don't want to bother Bianchi…"

Reborn smirked like there was no tomorrow. But, a small part of his mind said, we can't have Dame-Tsuna eating so much poison with the deadline so close. He can eat them afterwards. _True, _Reborn thought.

"Bianchi won't be cooking," he said. Tsuna sighed with relief but was alert the next second.

"What do you mean?" He asked suspiciously.

"We can't have you eating her cooking this week. We'll order pizza." Words couldn't describe how happy Tsuna felt that moment. "And if you get bored of that, you can always cook your own food."

"Whaat? But the only thing I'm good at cooking are eggs!" Reborn threw a chopstick so close to Tsuna's head a few hairs were cut loose. With a dull twang, the chopstick stuck to the wall. Tsuna didn't dare move.

"Then we will have your eggs. If they aren't as excellent as you promised me…" Reborn's eye had a dangerous glint to them. "And bring back my chopstick." Tsuna obeyed without question.

_But I never said that it was excellent! _He thought.

After the meal, he and Lambo went to Kenshin's house. "Never take something from someone ever again, okay?" Tsuna told the baby after he rang the doorbell. "Bakaa..." He was surprised when it instantly opened.

"Oh, Tsuna, it's you," he said.

"Erm. Hi, Kenshin-san. Lambo has something to say to you!" The brunet thrust Lambo in front of him, holding the baby by the middle.

Lambo looked bored and showed Kenshin the pin.

"Here, slave of mine. I was forced to give his back to you," he said. "If Tsuna didn't promise to bring me to the All You Can Eat Buffet in Yamamoto's restaurant, I'd never give this back to you."

"When did I promise you that?" Tsuna asked, bringing Lambo back to him so he can stare at him in the eye. Kenshin took the pin and said a quick thank you.

"Good night, Kenshin-san," Tsuna interrupted himself in mid argument with Lambo.

"Baka Tsuna promised to buy me sushi!"

"I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"No I didn't!" Tsuna opened his own door and closed the door behind them.

Kenshin sighed and looked at the pin. _Good thing it's not destroyed. It's a nicely done bug and I'd hate to see it ruined._

"So they gave it back?" Masahiro commented. He and his sister were finishing their meal. They would go home after the target has fallen asleep.

"Yeah. I'm actually surprised."

* * *

><p>Before Tsuna went to bed, Reborn had him do his homework. "Just because you might die on Saturday doesn't mean that I'm going to let you fail you classes."<p>

"But shouldn't I be resting instead?" He whined. His left hand writing improved just a little, but not much and it still caused his hand to become sore when writing for over fifteen minutes.

"You can rest later." Reborn said. He jumped onto the paper and stared with coal black eyes. He spoke softly, "If you can't find out what's wrong with your room, don't expect me to let you sleep tonight." Tsuna twitched. Something wrong with his room? He did feel like someone was watching him, but no one was—he gasped.

"You don't mean—while Lambo was here—they—he…!" Reborn smirked.

"After you finish with your homework, you better start looking."

Tsuna finished the last three problems and double checked them before giving Reborn the paper so he could pass it.

"Good job, Dame-Tsuna. Only the first three are wrong. For that, you get three cheers from Leon." Reborn lifted his hand and Leon walked on. He shape shifted into a two tonne hammer.

"EEEP—no, wait a second Reborn—!" The hammer came down thrice.

"Ugh…"

"Now hurry up." Tsuna crawled around his room painfully and looked everywhere. He sighed and put his chin to the floor. He stared at the third drawer for his desk. He cocked his head to the side because he noticed something was wrong with it. Usually, whenever he closed that particular one, he made sure it was tight and stuck. Now it was loose—he can even see a gap. He sat up and pulled it open; it came out smoothly.

Looking in, he screamed.

"It's gone! My old contacts are GONE!" He ducked under the desk and felt around. What he found was not his contacts, but a tiny, black bug.

* * *

><p>"<em>It's gone! My old contacts are gone!"<em>

Kenshin and the siblings were listening with headphones and winced when the device made the screeching sound it always makes when the sounds became too high pitched.

"He said _old _contacts, which means he has new ones. Then that means the headphones are old as well." Masahiro said.

"Shh. Listen," Masami whispered.

"_What about the headphones?" _They heard Reborn ask.

"_They're still here. But that doesn't matter. Someone took my contacts!"_

_THUMP!_

"_Ow-ow-ow-ow, Reborn why did you do that?"_

"_Be thankful they aren't your new ones. Where _are _your new ones?"_

"_I kept them in my bag, with the new contacts in my pants pocket. I'm not risking walking out of the house empty handed."_

"_At least you learned _some _things_ _since I came," _Reborn grumbled. "_If _someone_ took your new headphones and contacts, you would be dead the day of."_

"_I know…"_

"What day are they talking about?" Masami asked Kenshin.

"Something to do with Tamiko Mio." She sucked in a breath at the name. Everyone who dealt with the mafia knew the names of deadly assassins. Including Reborn, but there was no way the baby could be the hitman. "They're being attacked by members of the Luna Family." Masami tore the headphones off.

"They are _what? _And you're still on this case!" She asked in disbelief. "They're being chased by an assassin and you're still investigating the Vongola Family? Are you nuts?" Kenshin looked up at her calmly.

"No, I am not crazy," he said, gritting his teeth. _I hate it when people call me that. It's the third time today. _"We can find out why the family is after the Vongola. It's called gathering information for future reference against the Vongola and Cavallone Family."

"I _know _what it's called!" She snapped back. "It's just that…you know we might get killed, right? If we see them get killed, and we're found out, we'll be killed by them."

"Why do you seem extra afraid of Tamiko Mio?" Kenshin demanded. Masahiro looked over at Kenshin, and then at his sister.

"Well, she's an assassin," she blurted out. Kenshin looked at her for another second and turned away. He pointed to the contacts that Masahiro was examining with careful fingers.

"Whatever. I'm going to have someone look into those contacts. They're not normal if he needs them to fight." He turned his back to them for another cup of coffee and didn't see the siblings exchange an anxious glance.

"When are you going to have them looked at?" Msahiro asked casually as he put a hand in his pocket.

"As soon as I can. Which means tonight."

Masami sat down beside her brother. "Sorry for yelling at you," she said to Kenshin. "I just got a bit shocked, that's all. I've seen Tamiko finish a mission before." The clattering in the kitchen stopped.

"Yes, it's not a pretty sight," he finally said. Masahiro snapped the lid shut and slid it to the opposite side of the table, where Kenshin usually sat.

"Our target has slept. We'll be leaving you to yourself now," he said. Masami stood again and picked up her bag.

"Good night, Kenshin," she called. He came back out.

"'Night."

They shut the door behind them and walked in silence for five minutes.

"Good save there," Masami told her brother. He grinned.

"I have the quickest hands in the world. I could have done it with him looking at us as well, but I wasn't taking any chances." He tossed Tsuna's old contacts up in the air and caught them again before putting them safely in a small contacts box.

"Hn. If he had the _real_ contacts examined, he'll find out about Decimo's secret weapons for sure."

"Ah." They walked for another minute without speaking. "We almost broke the omertà," Masahiro commented quietly.


	10. Fighting: Begins! NVM! I lie

This fanfic is nearing its end as Tsuna readies himself to fight the Luna Family who has sworn to defeat him!

Thanks for reading it this far and I hope you like the ending (which is in a few chapters).

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>

Tsuna awoke with a start when he felt himself being splashed with ice cold water.

"AAAHH!" He shivered in his wet clothing and tried to warm himself up by rubbed his arms—which was a bit difficult with his right arm in a cast. His teeth shattered as he stuttered out in a soft voice, "R-R-Reb-b-or-r-rnnnnn…why th-th-the c-c-co-l-l-ld wa-a-aterrr…?" The rubber Leon bucket changed back to that tiny chameleon Reborn always has on his fedora.

"I'm devising new methods for waking you up," his sadist tutor said in what he thought was a reasonable tone. "We are going to the training room for the entire day tomorrow. I would rather bring you to the mountains but the detective will follow us. Before that, I'm going to teach you more on Japan History. You failed that test horribly, you know? And then I have to teach you Mafia History in Italian. Oh, and if you don't remember everything by the end of the lesson, I'm going to have you bathe in cold water."

_Slave driver! _Tsuna looked at his tutor in horror, not for the first time since they met and most likely not the last. Then Reborn punched him.

"Pay attention when I'm talking to you, Dame-Tsuna!"

"But I'm _cold!" _He shivered to prove his point. That earned him a glare from his tutor.

"Anyways, hurry up or else you're going to be late for school." Tsuna looked to the clock.

"GAAAA! You should have woke be up sooner!" Damp blankets and shirts flew everywhere as he went for a quick, warm shower and dressed into his uniform. He ran downstairs with Reborn propelling down, Leon as a parachute. "She came in twice to wake you but you kept on says five more minutes. If I let her wake you up again, there will be nothing left of you except a blob of goop." Tsuna cursed himself to be such a late sleeper and darted into the kitchen to see what remained of his breakfast. Lambo was stuffing his face with food and Fuuta was writing in his big Ranking Book on the ground. I-pin was in the yard doing the morning training exercises Fong instructed her to do. Tsuna plucked the sandwich from the plate. He did a double take when he saw the woman cooking. He realised that it wasn't his mother who tried to wake him up, but Bianchi. He dropped the bread and covered his nose at the sudden unbearable smell of Bianchi's latest dish on the counter. Remembering that his mother made the sandwich he just dropped before going to the airport, he snatched it back up from the plate as Lambo reached out to take it.

"Lamb-san was going to eat that!" Lambo protested loudly. Tsuna stuck his tongue out at the baby.

"I'm off!"

"Be careful!" Bianchi and Fuuta said in union although when Bianchi said it, the words sounded more like, "Don't be careful and don't come back. That way, I can have Reborn all to myself". The door closed behind him and he saw his silver haired friend waiting.

"Juudaime!"

"Oh, Gokudera-kun!"

"The baseball freak had morning practice, so he couldn't come!" Gokudera started to talk about how Yamamoto should lay off baseball for a while and focus on protecting Tsuna as they made their way to Namimori Middle. Reborn watched them go and noticed something shiny on the grass from the corner of his eye. He jumped and landed in front of it. He recognised its contents immediately and grinned.

"Oh, it's Reborn-san," Masami cried. He looked up. Masami and her older brother Masahiro were leaning against the small gate, looking at Reborn.

"We just finished having breakfast with Kenshin," he said. Kenshin appeared a minute later.

"Good morning," he greeted Reborn.

"Ciaossu! Where are you all going so early in the morning?"

"We're going to show Kenshin around Namimori some more," Masami said. "Until next time then."

"Bye, Reborn," Kenshin said. Masahiro nodded his farewell. Reborn watched them leave and went back into the house for a cup of espresso.

* * *

><p>Kenshin and the siblings caught up to Tsuna and Gokudera.<p>

"Yo, Tsunayoshi-kun!" Masami hollered. Tsuna turned and widened his brown eyes.

"H-Hitomi-san?"

"Oi, oi, I don't know whether you are talking to me or Aniki when you say that!" Masami said. "I told you to call me Masami!" Tsuna nodded. He made this mistake every time they met.

"Masami-san…what are you doing with Keshin-san?" The siblings often visited his house when he was younger, to talk to his father when he was around. They played with Tsuna when his parents were busy. They also stopped coming over to their house for dinner about a year before his father's _mysterious _disappearance.

"He's a friend of ours," Masahiro said. "We're showing him around some places he might have not been to yet."

"M-Masahiro-san…?" Tsuna was shocked to know that Kenshin had friends in Namimori, because his cover was a fake. A detective is what he is. Wouldn't that make his friends his colleagues?

_Does that mean the Hitomi siblings are also law enforcers of some sort? But they've been living here for…forever! T-That means they know what we're up to?_

Tsuna began to hyperventilate in his head.

"Hey! Who are you and why are you so friendly with Juudaime?" Gokudera demanded. He stepped protectively in between them and glared.

"We know each other," Masahiro said as if it was obvious. Gokudera readied himself for a fight.

"_EXTREME!" _Ryohei came out of nowhere. Tsuna relaxed visibly and turned to his saviour. Hana and Kyoko walked a step behind the boxer. Kyoko smiled sweetly at Tsuna, who instantly blushed like mad.

"Good morning, Tsuna-kun!" She was as oblivious as ever and didn't know why Tsuna's face was turning red.

"G-Good morning, Kyoko-chan…"

"What's going on, Octopus-Head?" Ryohei yelled.

"Octopus-Head?" Masami repeated. "Hmm…yes…I can see why he calls you that…" Gokudera looked like he would kill someone any second.

"A-AH! Gokudera-kun! We have to get going!"

"SAWADA'S RIGHT! WE'LL BE EXTREMELY LATE IF WE HANG AROUND ANY LONGER!" He roared after introducing himself. Every strand of hair on Tsuna's body rose at the mention of "extremely late", which led to "extreme beatings" from an "extreme prefect". Momentarily, he forgot that Ryohei's catchphrase was "extreme" and really thought that they were "extremely late". He ran for the school after telling his friends they had _best get going_. Gokudera was still yelling at the siblings when he noticed that Tsuna suddenly disappeared.

"Juudaime…?" The only evidence that told him his boss was ever there was the faint scent which lingered around Tsuna which goes undetected unless someone had a keen nose that was used to detecting gun powder or simply a very loyal right-hand man.

"JUUDAIME!"

"OI, SAWADA! YOU'RE RACING ME? BRING IT ON!" Ryohei charged after Gokudera.

Kyoko looked at her best friend and then at the three adults. She and Hana bowed, and then excused themselves before also going to school at a more reasonable pace.

* * *

><p>Hibari was at the school gates. He glared at Tsuna and the others.<p>

"If you arrived two minutes later, I would bite you to death."

"Hiiee….sorry, Hibari-san!" Tsuna quickly bowed and Gokudera scoffed. Hibari gave them one last glare and closed the gates. Tsuna noticed that his hand had a few bandages on them which meant he must have had some training with Dino already. He had mixed emotions of surprise, worry, and relief. Surprise, because he didn't expect his Cloud Guardian to fight for him—scratch that. Hibari's probably honing his skills just because there was a promising fight ahead with many herbivores for him to bite to death—worry, because he will no doubt also get hurt, and relief, because he knew his strongest Guardian was there for him.

Throughout the morning, Tsuna did his best to stay awake. He still remembered that threat Reborn made and didn't want it to come true. His head drooped as he felt the familiar sleepiness overwhelm him.

"…ada…SAWADA!" His teacher slammed the textbook to the desk at the front of the class.

"HIIIIEEE!" _They're here! They're gonna kill me! _He instantly thought and tried to stand. His feet were asleep and the brunet tumbled to the floor with his chair. The class laughed.

"Juudaime! Are you alright?"

"Tsuna, you okay?" Yamamoto asked as Gokudera went to help Tsuna up, who found it all too embarrassing.

"Sawada! You fell asleep in class again!"

"S-Sorry, Sensei…"

"Why you…HOW DARE YOU THREATEN JUUDAIME!" Gokudera yelled. The teacher flinched.

"EEP! Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna cried. "Don't do anything rash!"

"Now, now, you don't have to yell at the teacher," Yamamoto laughed and tried to calm down his hot headed friend.

"What are you talking about? You should be arguing as well! He yelled at Juudaime!" Yamamoto laughed.

"Come on, Gokudera! You're causing a scene!" They looked around. Fan girls were looking at Gokudera and Yamamoto. Gokudera fans squealed and screamed whenever Gokudera yelled or glared their way. Yamamoto fans screamed and squealed as well, but for the safety of the baseball fanatic. Secretly though, everyone was hoping Gokudera might start a fight with this horrible teacher. No one liked this particular teacher because he yelled and gave too much homework each class.

Gokudera hated his fans. They were like an itch that won't disappear. He growled one last time and sat at his seat. The teacher went on with the lesson with no further interruptions but they knew he took Gokudera's outburst offensive because he assigned the class three pages of questions due the next class and whoever didn't finish them had another two pages to complete. No one took their anger out on Gokudera; they knew he was too strong. Instead, they glared at Tsuna, whom they believed was to blame.

Tsuna sighed as he took out his bento. Gokudera and Yamamoto came over. Tsuna noticed that Enma wasn't around lately. _I hope he's not in trouble, _Tsuna thought.

"That was mean," Yamamoto said. "I don't think I'm going to be able to finish three pages of science questions."

"I should have beaten him up!" Gokudera said through gritted teeth.

"Eh…" Tsuna opened the lid and was about to eat but stopped himself. He and his two friends gagged at the smell of Bianchi's poison cooking. Wise Gokudera replaced the lid to prevent the poison gas from spreading.

"J-Juudaime, why is my sister's cooking…?"

"She…'s living at my house…I guess this means that I'll have to make my own meals from now on," Tsuna said miserably and coughed. "I _hate _waking up early…"

"Then do it before going to bed," Yamamoto said.

"Huh?"

"Cook your meals the night before you are going to eat it and then put it in the fridge." Yamamoto grinned. Tsuna beamed.

"That's a great idea, Yamamoto!"

"Che. _I _could have told Juudaime that."

* * *

><p>Afterschool that day, Tsuna had the feeling of being followed. He sighed. <em>It must be Kenshin-san… <em>he didn't say this out loud to Yamamoto and Gokudera though. They probably felt it too. Once they separated, Kenshin continued to follow him. The young boss didn't notice that his friends also grew tails of their own. Masami followed Yamamoto and Masahiro followed Gokudera.

_Lucky me, _Masami thought. _I get to eat sushi! _She didn't really care about the task she was given by the police. Her main mission was to keep Kenshin from finding out too much without seeming suspicious. So, she won't mind if she can keep an eye out for Yamamoto—as long as there was sushi involved.

Yamamoto didn't notice her at all. The way he was walking told her that he wasn't expecting anything bad to happen. But oh how wrong she was. He is always ready to move out of the way of a speeding bullet or a falling potted plant—which _has _happened before…

He had his hands linked behind his head and was singing along a song she didn't recognise.

_Oh! I forgot…_ she fumbled around her pocket until she found her pencil and pulled the small coiled notebook out from her back pocket. She looked at her black watch, which had the exact same time as Masahiro and Kenshin's, down to the millisecond.

_Day 11: Wednesday_

_15:05 _

_Yamamoto Takeshi walks home alone with not a _

_care in the world. A baseball player carries a _

_bamboo sword? I find that a bit on the odd side_

_of things._

_He arrives at his family's sushi restaurant. He _

_slides the door open and says—_

She looked at what she was writing. The first few sentences looked alright, but the last line looked a bit too…story-like. No, that won't work for observation notes. She shook her head as she erased it and entered the restaurant.

"Welcome!" Tsuyoshi greeted. Yamamoto wasn't on the first floor, which meant he was probably in his room changing. There weren't many customers at this hour.

"Hello!" She said cheerfully. "I'm in a bad mood at the moment so I don't want to talk to anyone but I do want the best sushi you have." Tsuyoshi blinked at this customer and shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Here, this corner is good for a moody girl like you. Would you like tea or…?" Masami sat down and said, "Tea is fine. I like my food with tea. Do you manage this place on your own?" She looked around and noticed voices coming from the kitchen.

He chuckled as he worked. "No, no. My son Takeshi helps me when he finishes his school work. I also have a few more workers in the kitchen. Sometimes like now," he waved the knife at the empty room, "I wonder why I hire them when I can do it all on my own. But then there are times when we are packed, and I wonder why I didn't hire more!"

"I get that feeling sometimes when I have to work with my brother and his friends." Masami commented and wrote down more notes.

_Yamamoto helps his father out when he has time. He's _

_done nothing suspicious that says he is doing anything_

_for the mafia._

"For someone who's in a bad mood you sure talk a lot," he laughed. She grinned and twiddled with the pencil.

"I tend to talk more when I'm in a bad mood."

"Interesting personality."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Pops!" Yamamoto came down. He changed his uniform for the clothing he wore when training with his katana.

"Oh, you're going to practice?"

"Yup! I'll be back around five." Tsuyoshi nodded approval as he sliced up some stuff.

"Got something coming up?"

"Hn, sort of!" He laughed and waved good bye.

_Hm, _Masami mused, _Yamamoto and his father have similar personalities. _She pushed the notepad further away from her and into the shadow of the counter so Tsuyoshi won't see what she was writing.

_Practices with the sword regularly for about two hours._

"He does swordplay?" Masami asked curiously.

"Yes, he's rather good at it." Tsuyoshi had a proud smile as they spoke of his son. "Here you go! Try it."

Masami picked up the sashimi and stuck the whole thing into her mouth after putting a small drop of soy sauce on it. She chewed slowly. Tsuyoshi watched her as she ate, eyes widening just a bit. This was a professional sushi eater! She had some tea before speaking.

* * *

><p>I <em>so <em>made this part up… I watched this sushi-making drama before but I won't count on my facts on being accurate and neither should my dear readers.

* * *

><p>"It is excellent in all aspects. Although…"<p>

"Although…?" He prodded.

"The tea is a bit off."

"The tea?" Tsuyoshi poured himself a small sample and sniffed. Then he frowned and sipped. "Oh, I see what you mean…I'm sorry, I should have tasted it first." He knew there was no way he could blame the person who made the tea, since he was the master and he should have looked over his apprentice's work.

"Yes, it's too strong. When it's this strong, it is hard to judge the taste of the next piece properly." He nodded as she explained her reasoning. Spoken like a true expert.

"I'll have this remade," he gestured at the tea. "Today will be on the house." She smiled politely.

"That's alright. I'm not in a bad mood any more so I don't need to eat. You make the best I have ever eaten, by the way." Tsuyoshi appreciated the compliment.

"Come again when you're in a bad mood then!"

"Don't worry! It won't be long!" She left and went to look for Yamamoto. It wasn't that hard. As she approached the door, she heard him muttering under his breath and the _ring_ of a blade's downward swoop. It sounded like music. She stayed hidden and was satisfied to simply hear him. She had some skill in kendo and knew that Yamamoto was more than your average swordsmen.

_15:15_

_Yamamoto practices with a katana with deadly accuracy _

_with moves meant for killing._

Suddenly, she heard no sounds coming from the dojo.

"Who's there?" Yamamoto called out.

_Busted…how did he find out? _Masami cursed. Then put on a sweet smile. _He's holding a bamboo sword, but I heard a _blade. _Hm. So this is the famous…_

"Hello, it's just me, a friendly sushi eater!" Yamamoto raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"I saw you eating at our restaurant. Did you like it?"

"Yes, it was very appetizing." Yamamoto laughed cheerfully and then suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Masami asked. His smile faltered for only a moment, and then it was back.

"Nothing, it's just that…why didn't you eat more sushi?"

"What do you mean?"

Yamamoto began to tick off his fingers at each point. "Well, you just came in while I was upstairs, and then you were just talking with my dad as I headed out…between now and then…only about…three to five minutes passed. I was just wondering why you didn't stay longer. I can tell you enjoy eating sushi as much as I do!" He grinned again. Masami raised an eyebrow. She didn't find him as the talkative type.

"Do you mind if I stay to watch?" She asked innocently and ignored his question. He shrugged.

"Yeah, go ahead."

Yamamoto began his practice, but he was careful to not suddenly change the bamboo sword into the real thing. _Hahaha! This is harder than I thought! And this woman…there's no hostile intent coming from her like that kid, but there's _something, Yamamoto thought. _And she hid herself so well it took me some time to know she was there._

_He's hiding his sword style from me. Oh well. This is fun to watch anyways._

* * *

><p>Masahiro didn't have as much fun as his sister did. One reason was that he actually had to stay unseen when stalking Gokudera Hayato. Yamamoto has never seen Masami before, which made it easier to appear as a stranger, but Gokudera knows his face. Masahiro bought a corn cob and nibbled on it as he followed. He waited outside the apartment. He already knew which room and side of the building he resided in because the research was done for him. All in all, it was boring. So boring that after the first hour, he needed to talk to someone.<p>

He pressed a small button. "Hey, Masami, how's it going?" He said into the com by his collar.

_Chik_

"_Hi! Nothing going on right now," _she replied. "_Just hanging around."_

"Gokudera went into his apartment. No sounds are coming from him. Do you think he actually does homework?"

_Chik_

"_Who knows? He probably has to." _After a few minutes, he spoke again.

"What do you think of their family?" Masahiro muttered.

_Chik_

"…_Strong. Although that G-kun person you're following has a bad temper."_

"G-kun?" Does she mean Gokudera? Why doesn't she just say his name? Masahiro was puzzled.

"_Hitomi-san, I'm heading back now," _a voice on the other end said. _Oh, _a light bulb appeared over Masahiro's head. _Yamamoto is there._

"_Hai! I'll go with you. My friends are waiting for me anyways." _

_Chik_

"Talk to you later then." He let go of the mic and leaned against the wall beside a telephone booth.

* * *

><p>Gokudera slammed his door shut and locked it. He deactivated the explosions set around the door before they could go off. Then he tossed his bag onto the couch as he passed by and entered his room. Uri slinked in after him.<p>

"Uri! When did you come out?" Gokudera asked irritated. Even though his ring had become a belt, Uri managed to appear without him activating the Vongola Gear.

"_Meow~!" _Uri purred although it sounded like a lion cub's attempt at a roar. Gokudera _tch_edand left the room. Uri followed, knowing she'll find food whether her partner gave it willingly or not.

Gokudera wasn't about to waste his storm flames on feeding Uri, so he took out a can of fish—_not, _if you're wondering, Tuna Fish. He cracked the lid open, threw it into the trash can and set the three pieces of fish onto Uri's plate and put that on the table. Uri leaped up and began to eat. Gokudera stood there for a moment, looking at Uri. He could tell that she grew another few centimetres since the last time he's seen his box weapon.

_Is Uri going to grow as big as she did when Ryohei tossed her into his kangaroo? _He wondered and petted her absentmindedly before walking into the living room. He glanced at his bag.

"Tch. Stupid homework is too easy," he muttered and frowned. Was it possible that they could make him repeat a grade for not doing it? If that happens, he won't be able to get into the same class as Juudaime, which means he won't be there to guard him from harm. On second thought, maybe it would be best to just finish the crap and get over with it. He picked up his bag and rummaged through it as he headed for the kitchen. As he thought, Uri had finished the meal and left the plate clean. He put that into the sink and went for a pop can in the fridge. What he saw was not to his liking. The cans weren't facing the right way! And they weren't equally apart! The carton of milk was turned the other way, and the other items in the refrigerator had been moved slightly. His eye twitched as he thought of who would be stupid enough to break into his apartment, let alone go through his fridge. He checked the freezer and there was his answer. No_body _broke into the house.

"Uri! YOU ATE ALL THE MEAT?"

"_Meow!" _She screeched and pounced on his face. He dropped his bag.

"Uri!" He grunted as the cat began using his face as a scratching post. "St-o-op!" Gokudera pulled her by the scruff and panted as they glared at one another. "Didn't I give you enough food?" He yelled. She snarled a no.

"Geez!" His grip accidentally loosened for a fraction of a second and they were at each other's throats again.

After a few minutes, Uri walked out with a tail high like a waving victory flag. Gokudera looked at the remains of his shirt and blew out a breath. He looked at his homework which spilled out during their daily conflict. It was torn to shreds. Pfft—so much for doing homework.

_Gokudera Hayato owns a cat—a vicious one. Note to self:_

_don't go into his apartment while it is around._

* * *

><p>"I'm home!" Tsuna called. Reborn jumped onto his head.<p>

"I ordered pizza. It will be here in an hour. Before then, we can work on your homework." Tsuna groaned.

"Couldn't I do it after eating? I'm hungry." Reborn got up and kicked his student behind the head. "_OW_…Nevermind…" Reborn gave him his famous smirk and walked away.

"Tsuna-san! Lambo won't share the ball!" I-pin ran to him as he was about to climb the stairs.

"No! It's Lambo-san's ball!" The accused screamed. Tsuna looked up to the ceiling and sighed, as if asking, "Why _me?" _

"Haaah…Lambo, share with I-pin." Then Tsuna paused. "I-PIN! FUUTA? Why are you two still in Japan?"

"I wanted to stay." they said together. Tsuna smiled weakly."

"NO!" Lambo screamed, diverting their attention back to the conversation they had before.

"Play together, it's more fun," Tsuna said in monotone.

"Lambo wants I-pin to be his servant," I-pin said.

"Why are you so childish, Lambo?" Tsuna complained. "I-pin can't be your servant."

"I am the Great Lambo-sama! I need slaves and servants!"

"I-pin will not be your servant!" I-pin yelled.

"Yes you will!" Lambo held a grenade threateningly.

"Lambo don't do that!" Tsuna warned. He did it anyways. I-pin bit into a Gyoza bun.

"Gyoza Fist!" She directed the oncoming grenade away from her.

"Ow!" Tsuna cried as it hit his forehead. He had the unpinned grenade in his hand. "HIIIIEEEE!" The brunet tossed it from one hand to the other as if it was a hot potato. Finally coming to his senses, he threw it out the entrance leading to the yard and into the sky.

BOOM!

He sighed and turned back to the two kids. They were tumbling around and fighting with each other.

"U-Um, Lambo! I-pin!" He tried to stop them but got kicked in the face by a foot. "_O_w!" He rubbed his nose and tried again.

"I-pin! Stop fighting Lambo! And Lambo, stop picking fights you know you're going to lose!" I-pin was obviously the more experience fighter of the two, but Lambo fought dirty.

"Gyoza Fist!" Lambo charged and dived at I-pin. Her aim veered and hit Tsuna directly on the chest.

"Not again!" He wailed as he was launched into the air, flew this way and that, hitting the walls and furniture. He screamed.

POOF!

Some time along the way, Lambo managed to fire the ten-year bazooka.

"Yare yare. Not this again. Hey, Young Vongola," Adult Lambo said. One of his eyes was shut lazily. Adult I-pin was also there. She was wearing her white ramen delivery uniform.

"Sawada-san!" She was surprised to see him. "I have to deliver these noodles to Kawahira-san before they get soggy!"

"I-I-I-pin!"

"Eh?" Lambo's bored expression became one of interest.

"I-pin, it's going to get soggy in five minutes anyways! Why don't you let _me _eat it?" He reached for the box she held.

"Don't!" She slapped his hand away. "This is for Kawahira-san! Order your own ramen if you want to eat so badly."

"Come on, I-pin!" Lambo said. As he spoke, his other hand quickly shot out and lifted the cover.

"Ha!" I-pin blocked him. Just as fast, Lambo tugged the box free from her. Instead of sitting around, he ran out the yard.

"Lambo come back!" She yelled and chased him.

"What's going on here?" An irritated Bianchi said. Tsuna looked at her and let out a terrified scream. She glared at him. "What?" He calmed down after the initial shock of seeing a face mask on her.

"Sorry…I thought you were a ghost or something." Her eyes narrowed.

"Hiieep!" He squealed.

"Why is the place a mess?"

"Well…I-pin and Lambo…sort of…" Bianchi's long strides took her to the other side of the room before Tsuna could finish saying his sentence.

"Stop fighting!" She ordered. The noise outside stopped. Tsuna crawled over to see. Lambo was standing on one leg, his body tipped backwards. The bowl of noodles was in his left hand with a pair of chopsticks in his mouth. His other hand and leg were busy defending himself from I-pin, who was about to send him a flying kick. Distracted by Bianchi, she didn't watch where she was going and Lambo, looking at Bianchi, didn't have time to move out of the way. I-pin collided with Lambo.

"Ahh!" He managed to save the noodles from a nasty fall.

"Are you two okay?" Tsuna asked worriedly.

"Oh…we're okay, Young Vongola." Bianchi's eyes fell on Lambo. They stared for a full minute. Lambo's face fell when he saw the murderous aura coming from her.

"Yaiiiikkkkeeess!" He screamed and scrambled to his feet. "Young Vongola! Save me!"

"HIIIIEEEE!" Lambo ran for Tsuna.

"_ROMEO…!"_ Bianchi held a large purple cake.

"D-Don't HIDE BEHIND ME!" Tsuna shrieked as Bianchi came at them. The two of them screamed and—

POOF!

Bianchi charged into the pink smoke and her cake went sm_…ack _onto someone's face.

"Hn?" Bianchi looked down. The smoke revealed a six year old Lambo who was sitting on the ground, sucking his thumb. Tsuna was lying on the ground twitching. His face was smeared with a purple cake infested with worms and who-knows-what.

"Tsuna, why did you get in my way?" Bianchi said in a deep, intimidating voice. Tsuna didn't respond.

"Tch." She walked back into the house.

An hour later, Tsuna woke up in the same position but his face was cleaned.

"Tsuna-nii! You're awake," Fuuta said with a relieved smile. "I thought that I came too late to save you."

"W-What do you mean, Fuuta?"

"Bianchi-nii's poison is ranked one of the best. It would have melted your face if it stayed longer than ten minutes."

"Th-That's dangerous…" Tsuna mumbled.

"Oi, Tsuna!" Reborn kicked him. The brunet rolled over from the impact and groaned painfully. "The pizza will be here in a minute. Answer the door."

"Nnn…" He got up and tripped over his own feet. He looked into the house and yelped. It appears that while he was unconscious, Bianchi, Lambo and I-pin had made a bigger mess. He could see marks of explosions and poison cooking. There was even a dent in the wall the size of…of a small baby with a lot of hair…Reborn must have gotten annoyed and threw Lambo into it. Someone knocked on the door. He stumbled towards it, knocking over this and that. "Hai?"

"Pizza delivery from _Vongola Pizza!_ With an extra dish of _Vongola Spaghetti!"_

"HIIIIEEE!" Tsuna slammed the door. "What the hell—why am I getting pizza from the Mafia?" The delivery man knocked again.

"What are you doing, Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn said. "Open the door."

"B-But it's _Vongola _Pizza!"

"What did you expect? We're eating Italian this week."

"Eh?" He opened the door cautiously.

"Hai! Please enjoy your clam pizza!" The man left after saluting them...? Tsuna stared blankly after the retreating man in red.

"Vongola…Pizza…Clam…Pizza…? Ahh! Wait! I didn't pay you yet!"

"You are the VIP of Vongola Pizza," Reborn said. "I took advantage of that so we don't have to pay. After all, you _are _their future boss after you sign the contracts."

"E-Eh?"

Reborn smiled. "Didn't I tell you? Vongola Pizza belongs to the Vongola Famiglia." Tsuna staggerd back.

"YAY! PIZZA!" Lambo screamed. "I LOVE PIZZA! HURRY, HURRY! LAMBO-SAN WANTS TO EAT!" Reminded of his hunger, he headed to the kitchen. Everyone except him sat at their seats. No plates were out.

"Uh, isn't someone going to set up the table?" He asked weakly.

"You're doing it," Bianchi said. He was afraid of that. Tsuna put down the pizza box and brought out the plates.

_Fwip! Fwap! _He spun around. Everyone looked at him.

"Hurry up, Tsuna. We also want some drinks," Bianchi said. Tsuna gave them the plates and went for the drinks.

_Fwip! Fwap! _Again, he turned to face his housemates. They stared at him.

"What are you waiting for? We need cups as well," Reborn said. Tsuna narrowed his eyes but did as he was told.

_Fwip! F— _

"HA!" He screamed and pointed. Everyone froze. He saw the pizza box's flap flutter back to place. He looked at them. No one moved. He saw Lambo's mouth bulge a bit.

"Who's stealing the pizza?" They pointed to the cow.

"Hmm! I'm not the only one!" Lambo protested. "Reborn and Bianchi also stole slices!" Tsuna put his hands on his hips in a motherly gesture and frowned at them. Reborn grinned.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

He joined them at the table. Opening the box, he found nine slices gone. Half the pizza remained.

"Lambo! Couldn't you have waited for everyone else?" Tsuna whined. "Bianchi and Reborn, too!"

"What did you say?" Reborn and Bianchi towered over him. Reborn had his left hand behind his back, twisting it so hard he _had _to cry out.

After "proving their innocence", Bianchi and Reborn let Tsuna up from the floor. They split the spaghetti and the remaining slices of pizza. Dinner surprisingly lasted for two hours. After eating, I-pin, Lambo, and Fuuta went to get ready for an early bedtime. Bianchi went out to buy _ingredients _for breakfast. It was Tsuna who had to clean up the mess. He was about to clean himself up when he remembered that he had to make food for the next day. He sighed.

"Why do I have to deal with this?" He took out a few eggs and a pan. He stood there, trying to figure out what kind of eggs he should make.

"Let's see you make an omelette," a squeaky voice said.

"Eh? Reborn?" Reborn was standing on the counter.

"A boss also needs to know how to cook for himself." _I don't think so… _Tsuna sweat dropped.

"Hm…I haven't made eggs in a while…" He said. He tried to crack an egg and it splattered everywhere. He looked at it in astonishment. Reborn smacked him.

"You used too much force. And heat up the pan first, Dame-Tsuna!"

"O-Oh! Right!" He turned the stove on. After a few minutes, he drizzled a bit of oil onto it. Tiny miniscule bubbles appeared.

"Crack the egg at the edge of the pan and pull the two pieces of the shell apart using all your fingers. Make sure the egg doesn't splatter everywhere this time!" Reborn tutored. Tsuna did his best with his left hand. A piece of the shell fell into the pan on top of the egg.

"Hiiiee!" Quickly, Tsuna tried to pluck it back up before it would stick to the fast cooking egg whites. "Youch! It's hot!"

"Of course it is. Where are your cooking utensils?" Tsuna looked for a spatula. Unfortunately, he wasn't used to cooking, so he didn't know where his mother put it.

"It's burning," Reborn informed him from the other end of the kitchen.

"EEEP! Help me, Reborn!" He turned back and found the baby taking a nap. "At a time like this?"

SSSSSZZZZZZZZ!

Tsuna panicked and grabbed a drying plate. He dumped the blackened egg onto it and resettled the pan. He sighed.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to make an omelette today…" He tried again. After three burnt eggs and thirty minutes, he got used to cracking the egg. Now was the tricky part to not overcook it.

"Hn…how long did Kaa-san say I had to keep it there for?" He said out loud. He used the spatula to check the bottom of the egg he was cooking, sunny side up. He frowned in concentration. Was he forgetting something? He pushed the egg around the pan as he thought.

Scratching noises interrupted his thinking. He turned off the stove. _Where is that coming from? _He looked at Reborn. He was still sleeping. It came again. _That's the window!_ _Oh no! Is it a thief! Or did the assassins decide to come earlier? Reborn… _He wanted to wake his tutor up, but knowing him, Reborn will probably shoot first and ask questions later. Patting the pocket with his mittens, he slowly approached the sound. His heart leapt into his throat when he saw a dark figure. He quickly put on his gloves. _Damn it! How am I going to fight properly with only one hand? _He didn't have time to ponder over this because the window was fully open and a slim body was sliding in. Desperately, he went into Hyper mode and tried to knock out the person.

"Woah!" The person yelped. It sounded female. She blocked Tsuna's blow and he backed up.

"Who are you?" He asked calmly. His orange eyes gazed steadily at her whilst alert for another attack.

"Buon pomeriggio, Decimo!" Tsuna recognised the phrase "good evening" from one of Reborn's many torturing lessons. The fact that this person called him Decimo, and greeted him in Italian, clued in that she was in the mafia.

"Who are you?" He repeated. She stepped out of the shadows with a wide grin. His eyes widened and the fire on his forehead died to a low flicker and then nothing.

"Masami-san!"

"Hup!" Reborn landed on his head. "About time you came, Acilia," he said.

"I'm not late," she said.

"Eh? Acilia?" Tsuna repeated.

"That's her Italian name," Reborn said.

"W-Wait what going on?" Instead of answering, Masami stood at attention and said, "Acilia Tiburzio, here to report!"

"Did Kenshin see you come in?" Reborn asked ignoring his student's confused questions and panic attacks.

"Nope! I came through the tunnel. Once I was in the yard, Kenshin can't see me because Lambo and Hayato already destroyed all possible bugs."

"Come into the kitchen." Reborn waited a moment, wondering why he wasn't moving. He looked down.

Tsuna was staring at Masami in what looked like shock or disbelief. "Dame-Tsuna, _move."_

"_E-Ehh?"_

"Go to the kitchen. We'll talk there."

"Lazy tutor…" Tsuna muttered under his breath. Reborn's eyebrow twitched and he kicked Tsuna into the kitchen instead.

"Reborn, should you have done that to Decimo?" She asked.

"He needs to respect his tutor." He dug his heel into Tsuna's middle.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He begged.

"Hn." Reborn turned to Masami, who sat herself on a chair, rubbing her arm.

"That hurt," she blamed Tsuna. He recoiled.

"S-Sorry…"

"Acilia, eat this," Reborn slid the plate with the only properly done eggs towards her. She stopped it and plucked the fork he threw at her out of the air. Tsuna flinched at this crazy acrobatics. If she hadn't intercepted it, there was no doubt it would stab her eye out.

He fidgeted as she neatly cut a piece and placed it in her mouth.

"It's really bland."

"Oh! Sorry. I didn't have time to put the seasoning on it. Here you go."

"Okay, it tastes a _bit _better. If only it were cooked properly," she said wistfully and sighed. Reborn looked at Tsuna, who automatically flinched and backed away.

"Did you hear that?"

"Er…"

"If Acilia ends up unable to do her duty, you have a lot to make up for." Tsuna gulped. Masami laughed.

"It's alright, Reborn. My stomach is as strong as steel."

"Reborn! Who is…who is Masami! What's going on here?"

"Acilia Tiburzio, alias Hitomi Masami, and her brother, Fazio Tiburzio, alias Hitomi Masahiro, are agents who work for Vongola. Their parents worked for us before they died."

"Ehh…"

"Their family of agents is important to us. It all started with their grandfather. He was sent to become an undercover agent in the police force in Japan when the Eighth Vongola Boss was in their custody. He was very good at his job and has helped us greatly. Later, when he married and had a daughter, she too, trained to become one of Japan's top secret agents. Her husband was Japanese but he was also in the mafia. Then she bore two children, Acilia and Fazio. But because they were raised in a way the police will never suspect them to be Mafia, they are known as Hitomi Masahiro and Masami. Their Italian names are the names they use when they associate themselves to the mafia, which is only when reporting to their boss. Any more would be a risk of the police finding out. Their parents raised and trained the two

to succeed them. Because their parents before them were already loyal to the mafia, they were automatically accepted. Then their parents were assassinated by an enemy family—"

"What?" Tsuna exclaimed. His head swivelled to Masami's direction. She had a sad smile on her face. Reborn hit his student.

"_Don't _interrupt me. Before they died, they had the siblings trained for combat and tactical skills. Their family has been sniffing around the police and government for three generations. The police trust them very much."

"W-Wow…"

"That is one thing you must remember. The Hitomi siblings will help you a lot once you become boss. Know their history." Tsuna cringed. "Go on, Tsuna. Do you want to eat Bianchi's food tomorrow?"

"Ehh! Good thing you reminded me!" He turned back around to face the pan. He was determined to make a presentable lunch for himself.

"Has Kenshin found anything?"

"Not anything he was already aware of. He took Decimo's contacts, but we brought them back. It won't do you any good if they find out those aren't normal contacts. We also found out that something will happen this Saturday. Reborn…"

"Classified information—can't tell you."

"I know that Tamiko Mio is after the family. Kenshin told us that."

"We'll handle it. The eight of them plus Basil, Bianchi, and I are enough to defeat whoever they send. It would be easier if the Varia sent some men but we don't need them."

_We don't need them? _Tsuna thought._ We don't even know how many people they are going to bring to take me down!_

"Kenshin hasn't really found anything out yet. He actually thought that Decimo and his Guardians were doing drugs."

"What?" Tsuna asked disbelievingly. "Why would he think that?"

"You guys _were _out in the middle of the night during the ring battle, yes? That made him think you were doing something shady in the middle of the night."

"We would never do something like that!" She shrugged and continued telling them all that happened around Kenshin. Reborn said nothing when she finished.

"And did you notice anything else?" He asked. Tsuna blinked. Anything else?

"I didn't see any suspicious looking people around Namimori—that is, excluding Kenshin, Anki, and myself. I think the Luna family will stick to tradition." _Oh, that's what they're talking about… _Tsuna turned back to the now steaming pan and yelled in frustration. Reborn glanced his way and instantly threw him insults on exactly _how _dame he was and then beat him up.

Masami raised her eyebrows and looked at her watch. "I should get going."

"Ciao~!" Reborn said. She stood up and looked down at the pitiful shape Decimo was in.

"See you later, Decimo." She clambered back through the window and down to the basement which led to underground tunnels throughout Namimori—something Reborn failed to tell his student.

"Hurry up and finish practicing."

"P-_Practicing?"_

"You're making breakfast for everyone tomorrow, and if it doesn't taste good, I'll make your training extra hard."

"When did I become the babysitter?" He moaned.

"Do as you're told," Reborn ordered. Despite it being told in a squeaky voice, it didn't lose its authority.

"H-Hai…"

"You don't need to bother with making a bento. You're just going to cook your lunch when it's noon."

"But I have to be at school!"

"You're not going to school tomorrow."

"Wh-What?" _Yay! _His inner self was cheering, but his Hyper Intuition scolded him, saying Reborn was up to something—perhaps more training.

"You, Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Ryohei will be training to make sure you're in shape for the battle on Saturday."

"…O-Oh…what about HIbari-san and Chrome?" Reborn jumped onto his head.

"Your Guardians find suitable people to train against, although with the upgrade of the Vongola Gear, not many can defeat them except for the Arcobaleno…what?" He questioned Tsuna, who was looking at him incredulously. When he didn't speak, Reborn kicked him in the shin painfully hard.

"YEOOOWW!"

"Dame-Tsuna, is it so hard to believe that you have gotten that powerful?"

"Y-Yeah…you're talking about me, Dame-Tsuna, becoming so strong only the seven Arcobalenos could defeat me...and probably a few others. It's…kind of hard to believe." Reborn stared at him. It was Tsuna's turn to become confused. "What?"

"I knew that you had problems with language, but I never knew it was this bad."

"Eh?"

"Dame-Tsuna, have you recently thought of what the dame in Dame-Tsuna means and if it still fits into your description after everything you've been through? Are you really No-Good? Are you really useless? Is Sawada Tsunayoshi a useless little brat or is he Vongola the Tenth with his Guardians by his side?" Tsuna stared at his teacher.

"I…" he began hesitantly, "I'm not useless…I can fight to protect my friends with my own hands. A-And I'm not entirely no-good either!" Reborn smiled in earnest.

"So you see; it's not hard to imagine being one of the strongest people alive. Of course, you will never be on par with me, but I suppose that's the best you could do."

The last statement ruined the atmosphere and Tsuna sweat dropped.

"Now you just need to know how to use your powers to its full extent. Knowing you have a lot of power and learning how to use it properly are two different things." Tsuna nodded. This was something Reborn had pounded into his head until it stuck.

"Does this mean you'll stop calling me Dame-Tsuna?" He asked hopefully.

"What are you talking about?" Reborn asked. "That name is staying with you till the grave and beyond." The brown haired youth ducked his head and fake cried.

"Tsuna, we still need to improve your history. Hurry up. Meet me in your room after you've finished cleaning the mess up."

"Hmm?" Tsuna frowned and scratched his head in puzzlement. He turned around and screamed so loud Gokudera must have heard him in his apartment.

…

"Juudaime?" He looked up from his reading. He had his hair tied back and glasses on his nose. "It must have been my imagination…" And continued reading the magazine on UMA's.

…

The reason for Tsuna's scream was that the stove caught on fire. How this happened, he had no idea. One thing was certain: if he didn't clean this up before his mother came home, he had a lot of explaining to do.

"Oh, no! Oh god! What to do!" He looked for a fire extinguisher. "WHY CAN'T I FIND IT?" He tried to turn on the water tap and tried to extinguish the fire that way. Nope, it didn't work. He knelt and looked into the other cubbies. Ah ha! There it was! He pulled out the red and black fire extinguisher. It was pretty small but it should work…

"How do I use this?" He asked himself dumbly. He looked at the instructions quickly and pulled the pin out. It sprayed all over _him _instead of the fire. When he finally grabbed hold of it and aimed, only the little bit left in it went on the fire. He dropped it and winced as he reached over to switch the stove to off. _Funny how I never got burnt by my own flames…_

_Whump! _The flames were gone. He blinked slowly and stared at it.

"_That _was all I had to do?" He cried. "Ugh."

Fifteen minutes later the kitchen was clean and tidy. He went to his room for his "lessons". Reborn waited there. Knowing there was no use avoiding it he sat down and listened to Reborn first talk about Japan history, and then the Mafia History. He learned more about how the mafia came to be and about Vongola Primo and Shimon Cozart.

It was eight by the time Reborn let his student get ready for bed—he was to use cold water as he brushed his teeth and took his shower. He was shivering by the time he crawled into his cold bed.

"Gao!"

"Natsu! What are you doing out of your ring?" Tsuna asked. Natsu just "_gao_"ed again and snuggled up to Tsuna, who smiled and wrapped an arm around his trusty lion. He instantly felt warmer.

_Go ahead, Reborn. Get me to bathe in cold water again. I'll just have Natsu to warm me up again, _he thought silently. Reborn, in his own hammock, snorted. He knew what his student must be thinking.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Tsuna awoke to Ryohei's loud shouting, getting louder by the second.<p>

"Hn…" He blinked sleepily. It was six-thirty. Natsu had retreated into the ring some time ago.

"Why do I hear Onii-san?" He asked and yawned. His stomach grumbled. His mind filled with question marks as he wondered why he was so hungry.

"SAWADA!" Tsuna fell out of his bed. He opened his room window and looked down at Ryohei in his jogging suit.

"O-Onii-san? What are you doing here so early?" He called down quietly, trying not to wake up his neighbours.

"Master Pao Pao told me to come!" He shouted. Tsuna tried to shush him as a Chihuahua yipped in the distance.

"Just keep it down! I'm coming to unlock the door in a minute!" He went back into his room and dressed in a t shirt and pants. He put his Vongola Gear on and headed down.

Ryohei was doing push-ups in the middle of the yard. Tsuna unlocked the door and Ryohei jumped in.

"Good morning, Onii-san…"

"GOOD MORNING TO THE EXTREME!" Tsuna stepped back quickly. Reborn appeared.

"Ryohei, I want you to do a final healing on Tsuna after I remove the cast."

"ALRIGHT!"

Reborn forcefully took the cast off Tsuna's arm. "Are you sure that's how you do it?" Tsuna asked worriedly. Reborn looked at him and didn't answer. Ryohei put a glowing yellow hand on the already closed wound. It hasn't bothered Tsuna in the past few days, he now realises.

"That should do it. He just needs to eat more TO THE _EXTREME!" _Ryohei concluded. Tsuna moved his arm around and twisted it in several different ways. It didn't hurt at all.

"Good," Reborn said. "Ryohei you can go and continue your training. Make sure you aren't followed."

"How do I do that?" He roared.

"Don't let anyone see you go to wherever you go; in short, treat it as a pre-training warm up."

"But how am I supposed to make sure no one sees me?"

"Run all the way there at top speed?" Tsuna replied with half deaf ears. "No one can match your speed if you give it your all. Just don't scream or shout which would lead Kenshin right to where you are." He hadn't meant to have his suggestion taken seriously, but that's exactly what Ryohei did.

"THANK YOU SAWADA! THAT WAS AN _EXTREMELY GOOD IDEA!" _

"Ryohei, do you have someone to teach you?" Reborn asked.

"Master Colonello said that he wanted to see how much I powered up and to meet him in the cliffs where we trained before!" Reborn grinned.

"I'LL BE LEAVING, MASTER PAO PAO! SEE YOU ON SATURDAY, SAWADA!"

"Bye!" Tsuna managed to say before Ryohei ran out of sight.

"Well?" Reborn said. "Let's get on with it." Tsuna put on his gloves and gave his tutor a determined and confident nod.

* * *

><p>Gokudera wandered around town towards Death Mountain, where many of them had trained for the previous battles. He made sure that no one followed him. He was sure that the siblings were also detectives, since they hung around Nori Kenshin. After spotting a quick movement on a car's wing mirror, he swore and began the process of losing a tail. It worked perfectly, although it took him an extra half hour to reach his goal. He had no one to tutor him this time. Since he was now stronger than most of the people he knew, he decided to not bother with asking them. Instead, he went to hunt for large animals that lived in the mountains and beat them up. He even found a few tigers and a band of robbers at different points. When he looked up, the sun was barely overhead. It was about ten.<p>

"Tch. This is going to be boring. Time to go to the library."

* * *

><p>Chrome and Mukuro were in Kokuyo Land. They were standing in the largest room the old amusement park had.<p>

"Kufufu. Are you ready, my dear Nagi?" Chrome bit her lip and nodded. She had the Mist Earrings on and she activated the Vongola gear. The trident changed shape until she held a staff with diamond shaped diamonds on the top.

"I'm ready." Mukuro cast his illusions for her to train with. They were first class and could operate without him being present. They won't do any real harm to her, but enough to make it challenging.

"Good luck," he said and dissolved into the mist.

"Pyon! What is the silly girl doing this time?" Ken asked from the side lines.

Chikusa said in his gloomy voice, "She's training."

"Heeh? That weak girl is training aga—?" His words were cut off as the illusions sprung and attacked her.

"Hah!" Chrome exclaimed and thumped the butt of the staff into the ground. Ken cried out in alarm as several things went wrong with the room. He ran for the door. Chikusa took one last look at Chrome and shut the door tight behind him.

* * *

><p>Hibari was resting on the top of Nami-Middle's roof when the ugly presence made itself clear. He was up with his tonfas in each hand before anyone could say "Hibird", who was presently flying in the air. He had his Vongola Gear, a bracelet, on his left hand. The tip of it was just visible when his sleeve moved up.<p>

"You finally show yourself," Hibari said coldly, but a hint of amusement as if he was getting bored.

"Kufufu. I thought it would be fun to tease you again," Mukuro chuckled. His bi eyes stared into Hibari's.

Without speaking, he went into his cambio forma. His prefect uniform changed and so did his tonfas. Now, Hibrid could be seen with a pompadour atop its tiny head.

"You are a herbivore Namimori could do without," the prefect said. "I'll bite you to death."

* * *

><p>"Master Colonello! I'm here!" Ryohei roared as he ran into the clearing. He looked around. "Master? Where are you?"<p>

"You have finally arrived," Colonnello's voice came from everywhere—a trick he learned a while ago. "Let's see exactly how much has changed." Ryohei grinned.

"COME ON, GARYUU! LET'S SHOW THE WORLD HOW MUCH WE'VE POWER UPED!"

* * *

><p>Squalo was throwing the remains of his target's body down a cliff, saving the head to prove he killed him. He then put the head in a plain box to ship it back to Italy.<p>

"_VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIII!_ THAT WAS TOO EASY!" He shouted to the sky. "I NEED A STRONGER OPPONENT!" He growled and sat on a boulder. He thought of his bearings, wondering if there were any good opponents in the area. He was in Japan at the moment and none of the Varia members were around. He certainly didn't want to go back to Italy yet, since that will just earn him a glare from Xanxus and another file of his next victim. He decided that he earned a weekend break. But what can he do during the break?

He was in goddamn Japan. There wasn't a single good swordsman he could face without killing. Then he paused his thinking. And he scoffed evily, already planning his transport. Namimori was _just _a few hours away…


	11. Lightning, Earth, Sky

**Chapter Eleven**

_**-Cozart-**_

_**Hey, Tsuna-kun. It's Enma. Sorry to have to tell you like this. We have to go right away. I would have told you in person, but I couldn't find you so I'm leaving you a note. There's a riot going on and we have to get back—the fight's happening right outside our base, most likely someone trying to take control people in our name. Our supporters are holding their own ground there, but they won't last for very long. I would have rather stayed and helped you, but Adelheid said as the Boss, I need to be there to sort out problems. There's something I didn't mention that might help you in defeating the family. They are in groups of ten, commanded by an Underboss. I don't know how many Underbosses they have, but if they are fighting in groups of ten, I think you guys can handle it. The ten rely on the Underboss to give them instructions. Once you defeat the Underboss, the soldiers will be easy.**_

_**I have to cut this short…Julie is throwing pencils at me. Ciao, Tsuna-kun. Tell me what happens! **_

_**-Giotto-**_

Tsuna had to read the letter in Vongomon out loud as practice. Reborn sat, leaning back on the bed.

"So, that's it," Tsuna concluded. "Reborn, is fighting in groups of ten a normal thing?" They were currently in Tsuna's room, after having a full lunch made by Tsuna. It was of course, half burnt and half cooked. But it was good enough.

"In the mafia, there are underbosses that have command over about one or two groups of ten men."

"Huh…" Tsuna said.

"Their family speaks Italian as well as French. For this mission, they will definitely also have Japanese speaking assassins. So don't feel so confused if you hear them speaking French."

"But…uh…I won't understand them…"

"Exactly why you will be learning languages from now on," Reborn smirked. The brunet's eyes widened.

"NO WAAAY!" He wailed.

"Rest for the afternoon, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said.

"What do you mean?" Tsuna frowned in puzzlement. Reborn smacked his forehead and he winced.

"I mean what I say," his tutor replied. "You're not training this afternoon." It was currently Saturday and Tsuna had trained for two days whenever he wasn't eating or sleeping. Sleep didn't come easy to him, so Reborn had to shoot him with the dying will bullets to get at least eight hours of sleep a day.

"You have to be fully rested for tonight. You can't go into battle half asleep. It's unhealthy."

"So…I'm resting…?" Tsuna asked. "You're not torturing me anymore?" Reborn's eyes flashed.

"I will have plenty of time to do that after today." Tsuna gulped. _He didn't even bother denying it!_

"I-I guess I'm going to sleep now then…" He climbed into bed and closed his eyes, trying very hard not to think of the deadly tutor who stared at him. His eyes shifted uneasily under their eyelids.

"R-Reborn, could you stop staring?"

"Sleep," he ordered. Tsuna could practically hear the smirk in the voice as the prickling feeling on his neck eased. The brunet turned to his side and put a hand underneath the pillow. The curtains were shut tightly and no light came through. The house was nice and silent.

_BAM!_

"AAH!" He bolted up in bed. Lambo's maniac screaming echoed through the house. He sighed and fell onto the pillow. "I'm not going to be able to rest…" He closed his eyes and calmed down. The noise continued, but he had grown used to it and slowly drifted off to sleep…

The next time he woke, Reborn was calling him. "Huh?" He muttered as his brain very slowly processed Reborn's words.

"We have to bring Fuuta and I-pin to a safe place for the night. The assassins will probably break into your house to see if you are in here, as well as post guards all around." Tsuna nodded his understanding.

"You said that Kyoko-chan won't be harmed, right? So they can stay with her."

"Then you have to bring them there now. It's six-thirty. The sun sets early starting this month."

"HIIEE! It's already six?" Tsuna exclaimed. "There's not much time until night comes! And then they'll come after us!"

"Exactly," Reborn agreed calmly, "which means you need to reach the warehouses before dark. Get dressed in black clothing. Leon made you special ones."

"R-Really?" Tsuna asked. He appreciated Leon making protective clothing for him. They've saved him from countless battles.

"They're on the desk."

Tsuna got up and retrieved a black t-shirt from his closet and picked up the jacket folded neatly on the desk. It was a jet black rain jacket that had a deep hood, with red zippers. There were two pockets at the front and one in the inside on the left—just small enough for Kyoko's charm. Tsuna's heart softened. Reborn actually thought of having Leon make that tiny pocket. He shrugged on the jacket. It was warm and comfy. Like all the things Leon made, it fit him perfectly, reaching to his thigh. He put Kyoko's charm in the jacket and a glove in each pocket. He didn't bother zipping it shut, since he might need it at any given moment.

"Don't forget the pants. You'll stick out like a neon sign in the ones you're wearing." Reborn tossed a pair of black pants at his student. "Those are water proof…unless you go swimming in the lake."

"L-Leon made _all this?" _Tsuna asked. He looked at the little lizard who was currently napping on Reborn's fedora, with its tongue sticking out tiredly.

"It took him longer. You better not ruin it," Reborn threatened. Tsuna shivered and nodded. Then he walked out the room but froze as he saw his reflection.

"Re-Reborn…"

"What?" His tutor was getting impatient.

"I…look…weird in all black…" Tsuna grumbled. "I look…"

"Cool?" Reborn smirked. The brunet blushed. That wasn't the word he was looking for, but he guessed that it was the same. Yeah. If he just _stood _there, he might pass as a cool guy. But once he takes his first step, like what he does just now—

_Thump! Thump! Thump! _He slipped on his socks and fell down the stairs.

"Ow!" He rubbed his head. Surprisingly, his body didn't hurt from the fall. Did the clothes make him _un-_bruise-able?

"Tsuna-nii? Are you okay?" Fuuta asked with a strained face. Tsuna instantly forgot his pain.

"Fuuta! What's wrong?" The boy smiled.

"It's nothing…the rain makes me feel uneasy."

"Rain?" Tsuna looked outside. Sure enough, it was raining lightly. "Oh…um, sorry, Fuuta, but you and I-pin are going to have to stay with Kyoko-chan tonight…"

"Is it because of the Luna Family?" He asked. Tsuna nodded glumly. Fuuta put on a brave smile.

"Don't worry! I'll do fine in the rain! Wait right here. I-pin and I are going to pack a bit!" And he darted off. Tsuna stood up, feeling guilty for making Fuuta go outside in the rain.

"Does Lambo have to wear something black?" Tsuna asked.

"That stupid cow is so small it won't matter," Reborn replied. Tsuna cringed. "But if you can, get him black baby sized clothing." Question marks started to form in his brain. _Where am I going to find black baby clothes for Lambo?_

Eventually, he just put a dark green rain jacket on Lambo and waited by the door for Fuuta and I-pin to get ready. Lambo was by his feet and Reborn on his shoulder.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Fuuta and I-pin said. They carried a backpack. Bianchi was behind them, wearing a pink and purple jacket.

"I'm going with you." Tsuna tried to protest, but one glare from Bianchi shut him up.

"I will fight with Reborn," she said lovingly. "It's been so long since we last partnered up." Tsuna shivered and sighed.

"Great! Let's go! The faster the better," he said and the phone rang. He growled and picked it up, impatient to get Fuuta and I-pin to safety.

"Sawada Residence!" He said with a bit more force than needed.

"E-EH? Tsu-kun!"

"Kaa-san!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"Is everything okay there?" She asked him worriedly. "You sound nervous!"

"I-I'm fine! Honest! Nothing's going on!" He squeaked.

"Hmm…" Nana didn't sound convinced. "I asked your father about it, too…are you sure nothing's going on?"

"I-I'm sure!" She giggled.

"Okay. Oh, Tsu-kun! I can't believe you have to miss this trip! It's so amazing! Your father brought me to the most beautiful restaurant ever! There were—"

"A-Ah, Kaa-san," Tsuna interrupted. Once Nana started talking about something, it was hard to stop her. "I don't have time to chat. I have to go out now," he said and instantly regretted it.

"You're going out?" She sounded worried again. "But it's seven o'clock in Japan. Where are you going?"

"I'm uh, just going out for a bit with Gokudera-kun and everyone! Nothing bad!"

"Promise you'll come home safely?" She said. "I don't want anything to happen to my one and only dearest and sweetest son!" Tsuna blushed and let out a soft chuckle.

"I promise." After saying farewell—his mother has apparently learned some Italian phrases in such a short time—he hung up and opened the door. To his surprise, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, Chrome, and Basil stood waiting outside the gate."

"E-Everyone…you're all here?" Gokudera and Ryohei paused their argument—there was no stop to it—and greeted the brunet. They were dressed similarly. Yamamoto had a jacket to keep the cold away and his sword in his hand leaning against his right shoulder. Chrome had a Kokuyo uniform jacket with the hood up, covering up to her brow. The earrings were on her and the trident in her hands. Ryohei wore a jacket like Tsuna's but with no hood. Apparently, he didn't mind the rain. His bangle was shown on his left arm.

"You're ready…" he said.

"Sawada-dono! Master has told me to tell thee that he is sorry he couldn't come to back thee up in thoust fight."

"That's…fine…"

"Of course we are! We're going to kick the Luna Family back to the moon!" Gokudera said confidently. Tsuna, his own confidence boosted, nodded and smiled.

"Let's go then!" He threw on the hood which covered all of his unruly brown hair except for a bit of his bangs and zipped the jacket all the way. It brushed the tip of his nose. _Too warm, _he thought and pulled the zipper down half way. Even though it wasn't raining hard, he would have been soaked through without the jacket.

"Where's Mukuro and Hibari-san?" He asked them as he put his cold hands in the pockets and accidentally slipped them into his gloves. He shrugged. They _are _gloves, right? Might as well use them as one.

"Mukuro-sama and Cloud Man are sparring right now. I think they are heading to the same location," Chrome said softly.

"They're _fighting _each other? Like, NOW?" Tsuna shrieked quietly. Chrome nodded.

"Hahaha! They sure like to practice," Yamamoto commented.

"You idiot!" Gokudera yelled at Yamamoto. "What do you think will happen if the enemy attacks and they're too weak to protect Juudaime because they used up all their strength fighting each other?" Yamamoto laughed again. But Tsuna could tell he was tense.

"I'm sure they are really just, well, _practicing…_right, Chrome?" She ducked her head and murmured a yes.

"Why are we coming back to my house?" Ryohei roared. "We are _extremely _going the wrong way!"

"Fuuta and I-pin are staying here tonight. The Luna Family might go into my house," Tsuna explained. "We need them safe from danger."

"I want to help," Fuuta said.

"You'll help us best if I know you're safe," Tsuna chided gently. I-pin said, "You don't need to worry about us. I'll protect Kyoko-chan if anything happens!" Tsuna smiled and patted their heads. Then, Kyoko opened the door.

"Tsuna-kun!" _So he really is here, _she thought.

"A-Ah—Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna straightened. She stared at him, mouth agape slightly. He cocked his head. "Is…there something wrong?" Her face reddened and she shook her head.

"Nothing. It just looks like…you're going to rob a bank tonight," she joked. Tsuna bristled and again, looked at his clothing and those of his friends. They all wore black so they would blend into the shadows better and avoid detection. It didn't occur to him that someone might think they were going to do something illegal…like rob a bank…

"Hiiiiee! W-We aren't doing anything like that!" Tsuna reassured her.

"Yeah! WE'RE GOING TO AN _EXTREME _SUMO WRESTLING MATCH!" Ryohei explained. Tsuna face palmed. "We'll be gone for most of the night. Do you think you can look after those two, Kyoko!"

"Mmm! No problem! Haru-chan is also staying over with us."

"Haru as well?" Tsuna muttered.

"Boss," Chrome muttered. "We should get going." The sky was turning to dusk.

"Bye, Tsuna-nii!" Fuuta said. "Stay safe!" Kyoko waved at them and closed the door. Then she blinked and turned back around to look through the window.

_Was that Chrome-chan? What is she doing with Onii-chan and Tsuna-kun? _She thought and shook her head. _Chrome-chan wouldn't go to a fighting match with them._

* * *

><p>"There they go," Masahiro said. Tsuna and his friends have just left his house. "They're all dressed in black—except for that woman, Poison Scorpion, I think…"<p>

"Then let's go," Kenshin said. He too was in rain gear. The two males left the house and trailed after the group of teenagers. They made sure to never be spotted and far from hearing distance.

"Masami, what's going on with the other two?" Masahiro asked through the coms.

"_They're fighting each other with tonfas and a pig sticker," _she said. [I got the word "pig sticker" from Tamora Pierce's series, _Protector of the Small Quartet_] _"Right now they're just fighting and moving around the neighbourhood. Not sure where they're heading to."_

Kenshin thought for a moment. "Where are they?" She told him.

"That's near the warehouses," he said. Masahiro whistled approvingly. Kenshin figured that out and he was only here for what—a week? Even _he_ didn't know what the Decimo was planning.

"But they aren't going to the warehouse," Masahiro pointed out. "They're going to Sasawaga Ryohei's house." They soon found their answer. Two children, Fuuta and I-pin, were being left at the house under the care of Sasawaga Kyoko.

"Hold on," Kenshin said. "Who's left in the house?" Masahiro counted.

"No one. The parents went on a trip, the other two babies are with them and so is Poison Scorpion. No one is in the house." Masahiro walked nervously next to Kenshin. He swore he could hear the gears working in the detective's head, the way his eyes looked calculating.

"Masahiro, go back to my house and keep watch on the target's."

"EH?" Masahiro complained. "Why?"

"Just go. It's a hunch," Kenshin said. "I want you to tell me if anything happens while they are gone."

"Yes sir," Masahiro sighed and turned back around. _No action for me, _he thought. But oh how wrong he was about that. When he unlocked the door, he went in and turned on the computer. He sat and fiddled with his gun, taking it apart, and putting it back together repeatedly.

"Nothing's wrong with the house," he says into the coms.

"_Just keep watch. I'd appreciate it," _Kenshin said.

"_Oh, it's not _that _bad," _Masami teased. In the background, he could hear the faint clashing of metal against metal and a bird chirping…or singing… _"You just have to sit in the house for who knows how long and do nothing." _He swore at her and growled.

After fifteen minutes, it was twilight and it was hard to see the Sawada house from the screen so he walked to the first floor window and sat beside it. He was invisible to anyone outside, but he could see everything, which probably saved his life. Because half an hour later, he saw dark, slinky outlines of eleven men. Masahiro let out a shaky breath. When did they arrive? Did they see him? He hoped not; because he could bet on his life that they were assassins. If they were still here, then that means they didn't know that Decimo wasn't at home… Then he froze, not daring to breath. Tamiko Mio was _right outside. _He knew that there was no way of her seeing him, but he stood frozen on the spot, just in case.

"Get the door open," he heard her order the men. "Find Vongola Decimo and eliminate him. Kill anyone in the way." Ten figures spread out around the house. Some had guns. But most had knives: the most swift and silent way of killing. Two of them were at the front door, opening it with a pick gun. The orders were taken so smoothly Masahiro just gawked and forgot to report until Kenshin spoke.

"_Masahiro, you just gasped. What's going on?" _Kenshin asked.

"A-A group of ten plus Tamiko just arrived at—" Masahiro caught his breath. He almost said Decmio. "Eleven people dressed in black just arrived at Sawada's house. Tamiko ordered them to search the house and to eliminate Tsunayoshi and to kill anyone in the way," he said quickly. He spoke as he watched them. Tamiko turned to him suspiciously as if she _felt _him looking. He gulped. Her eyes narrowed but she turned back to the door. The door should have opened, but it was still locked. They tried to force themselves through, but to no avail.

After Reborn moved in, he had switched the door for a bullet proof one with wood coating. Many locks worthy for a king's treasury were set in place as well. They weren't used often, but when trouble arose like now, Reborn activates every single one—thirty-seven, to be precise. From the outside, there was only one keyhole. But if someone looked harder, they would find that the outer wood can be removed.

_What on earth? _Masahiro thought. Tamiko was currently feeling the wall. Then suddenly, she unsheathed the long knives strapped to her back and hacked at the wood.

"Uh, I think she's gone crazy. She's slicing at the door," Masahiro said. "Oh—never mind. I spoke too soon. There's a metal door underneath it! The wood's only about two centimetres thick."

"_Th-There was another layer?" _Kenshin asked.

"Yeah and HOLY SHIT. THAT IS ONE HECK OF A LOTTA SECURITY." Masahiro exclaimed quietly.

"_What?" _Kenshin muttered. _"Explain yourself. What's under the false coating?"_

"It's a metal door. I think it's a bullet proof one. From what I can see, those locks are top class—_crazy_ stuff. Those locks will be impossible to pick with just your simple tool kit. If the front door is like this, the other doors are probably the same."

Then, the two men began to disassemble the locks. Suddenly, there was a click. Tamiko leaped back three metres and the two men by the door were showered with bullets and poison gas. Tamiko covered her face with a mask just in case and called to the others to be wary of traps. She stepped over the two men and placed a huge amount of plastique over each lock, covering at least five inches in all directions. Then she unrolled the fuse and set the detonator far away from the door and the two bodies. She knelt by the corner (where Irie Shouichi once spied on Tsuna's family) and detonated the bomb.

This explosion was the biggest one Masahiro has seen up close and he didn't like a second of it. The glass on the window shattered and he ducked below to avoid it. The sound echoed throughout Namimori. Masahiro simply stared and gulped. He was certainly glad that _he_ wasn't in that explosion.

"_Oi, what was that?" _Kenshin asked. He had to hide in the shadows to not be seen by Tsuna and his friends. They have also stopped and looked around.

"Tamiko is forcing herself in," Masahiro replied. Tamiko walked up to the door. It was still in one piece. The locks were slightly jarred. Now she simply picked the weakened locks open with such skill even the best thief in the world would have to move aside. She had the door open in two minutes.

* * *

><p>She stepped in and surveyed the narrow hall. There was no damage inside.<p>

"_There's nothing in the back," _someone reported.

"Keep looking." She strolled into the living room and kitchen. She sniffed. No one was here. The rest of her men went in and made a thorough search of all the rooms. Tamiko went upstairs and found Tsuna's room. There was a change of wrinkled clothing on the messy bed. _They aren't here, _she thought. _We were late. _After confirming this with the men, they went to look for possible places they may be in. They looked everywhere; Nami-Middle, the Guardians' houses, the shrine, park, forest—they weren't there.

"_Mio! They're heading to the abandoned warehouses!" _The leader of the second group told her.

"Right." They headed that way.

* * *

><p>"Uh…Kenshin…? They left…" Masahiro said. Suddenly, the front door slammed open. Three assassins walked in. "Maybe not <em>all <em>of them…" He finished and grabbed his guns. They charged at him with knives, but when they saw him with the gun, they dropped the knives and went for their guns. Masahiro shot the first one but he dodged.

"_What are you talking about?" _Kenshin asked. _"And what's going on?"_

"Ano, I'm a little busy right now. I'll get back to you later." Masahiro tipped the desk to it lay on its side, creating a temporary hideout. The vase and cups on it smashed to little pieces. Bullets slammed into the table. He popped his head back up and shot twice before getting down again. He continued to shoot at them as he ran to another room. He looked around and swore. He was in the kitchen.

"_Où est-il allé?" _Where did he go? The second one asked.

"_Regardez dans toutes les pièces!" _Look in all the rooms! The first one ordered. Masahiro heard footsteps coming his way. When they stopped beside the door, he used his right hand, which held one of the guns, to knock the man out. He went down silently. Masahiro laid him on the floor gently as to not alert the other two. Then he turned to face the kitchen. What could he use? Ah… He smirked.

_-Flashback-_

"_Kenshin…what are you doing?" Masami asked. She and her brother had just let themselves in and were looking for the detective. They found him in the kitchen kneeling beside a bottom cupboard. _

"_Oh, nothing…"_

"_Is that a blow torch?" Masahiro asked. "It's huge! Why is it in the kitchen?" Kenshin gave them a shrug and shut the cupboard with difficulty._

"_I got it a while ago. I have nowhere to put it, so it's going to be in the kitchen._

_-Flachback End-_

"Hehe. Smart, Kenshin," Masahiro muttered.

"_Seriously—what's going on there? Are you okay?" _Kenshin whispered.

"Oh, I'm totally fine. No need to worry about me," Masahiro said as he hefted the new found weapon in a hand.

* * *

><p>"We're being followed," Tsuna muttered, just loud enough for his companions to hear. The rain also helped to muffle their conversation.<p>

"Kenshin again," Reborn commented. Then something beeped.

"Eh? What's that?" Tsuna asked anxiously.

"This is bad," Reborn said. His fedora hid his face. "Someone is trying to break into the house."

"_HIIEE!" _

"What!" Who would do that?" Gokudera demanded. Yamamoto had a concerned face. Another beep. Reborn looked at his device.

"Looks like my traps went off."

"What traps?" Tsuna demanded fearfully. "You had traps around the house and I didn't know about them?" Reborn looked at him.

"I only activated them before we left. They would be perfectly safe before then, but if anyone tried to pick or destroy the locks, they would set off the traps."

_I don't even want to know what those traps are… _Tsuna thought. _I don't like where this is going…something doesn't feel right…eh? _His stomach knotted and he had a bad feeling settling in his heart.

_**BOOOOOOOOOOOM!**_

"AAhh!" Tsuna screamed. "What's happening?"

"Juudaime!"

"Whoa!" Yamamoto exclaimed.

"Extreme explosion!" Ryohei roared. Reborn glared and tossed his small piece of equipment away.

"The security is down. They're probably going into the house now."

"Ack! What should we do?" Tsuna exclaimed, grabbing fistfuls of his hair that weren't already grabbed by Lambo.

"The house is also censored. Any room they step foot in will explode in five minutes."

"HIIIEEE! Reborn! You're going to destroy my house!"

"Small explosions," Reborn said, "nothing too serious—although you will have a lot of cleaning up to do once we get back. Let's keep doing, Dame-Tsuna."

"U-Uh…" Tsuna agreed slowly and they continued to walk. They were only ten minutes away from the warehouses. Lambo hopped onto Chrome's shoulder and started complaining that he was bored. Tsuna gritted his teeth in frustration. Why did they have to bring Lambo? _Sure, he was a Vongola Guardian, but he was also just a kid! _Tsuna thought. Then he looked at the sky. It was in the middle of twilight; at most they had a few minutes to get away from the residence.

"Don't let your guard down," Reborn suddenly told them. "We are dressed for cover, but so will the Luna Family. They can attack you from behind if you aren't aware of your surroundings." They nodded. Tsuna thought that Reborn was just talking to keep their mind off worrying too much, because he had no doubt all his friends already knew about that fact.

Unknown to them, Lambo was fiddling with his hair, looking for something. Chrome, being the quiet one in the group, didn't attract the attention of the other Guardians.

_Haa! My candy is missing! _Lambo screamed in his head. _I must have dropped it somewhere! I have to find it! _He hopped gently off Chrome, who was lost in her own thoughts and didn't notice Lambo leaving them to look for his candy. Gokudera was arguing with Ryohei while Yamamoto and Tsuna tried to calm them down. Reborn and Chrome stood by watching. Lambo ran back the way they came from.

"Where did you go, grape candy?" Lambo asked the air. He continued to look in the nooks and crannies of a house in the middle of construction. He somehow ended up by the stairs.

"No candy here…" he whined and climbed a set of stairs. "Where did you go, candy?"

"Who's there?" A voice demanded and a shot fired. Lambo screamed and hid behind a tankard of water. The bullet passed his hair by an inch.

"It's a kid," a woman's voice said as she lifted Lambo by the back of his coat.

"GAAAA! Let Lambo-sama go! Baka Tsuna! This isn't funny!"

"Who's Tsuna?" The man who shot at Lambo muttered. Lambo screamed.

"Let Lambo-san go!"

"Shut up, brat!" Another man snarled and hit Lambo's head with a fist. They were a group of ten.

"Be quiet! We're an assassination squad, not a family of flying teddy bears! Vongola's just down there!" Another man said. Someone covered Lambo's mouth, who for once was not quivering. His muffled voice grumbled something along the lines of, "Gotta…stay…calm…" He began to cry and reach for this head.

"Oi! Shut up!" Someone told him. The bazooka was out.

"Oh no. What's a kid doing with a bazooka? Stop him!" Someone ordered. Lambo shot the bazooka at himself and pink smoke filled the air but was quickly dispersed by the rain.

POOF!

BAM! _Ping! _Someone shot the bazooka as it fell to the floor.

The woman holding Lambo was now holing the collar of a sixteen year old Lambo who had a bag slung over his right shoulder.

"Yare yare, it's raining," he commented and held a hand palm up to catch the drops of water falling from the sky.

"Who the hell are you?" Someone had a gun cocked at his temple. Lambo stared at the barrel and almost freaked out but he kept his cool. He couldn't cry now. His younger self was in danger…

"I might want to tell you…doing that is never a good idea." He pointed to the gun.

"What?" The Luna member demanded. "Do you know who you're talking to? The Luna Family, that's who! And what happened to the baby?"

"I don't want to tell you that," Lambo said. Suddenly, the bag on his shoulder fell into his hand and he swung it at the man's head.

_CLANGGGGG! _Whatever was in that bag was _hard. _The bag continued its pendulum, slamming into the woman behind him. The hold on his cow printed t-shirt loosened. He moved away from them and looked around. He was on the roof of an unfinished house. He looked at the rest of the group who was backing away but still aiming their weapons at him. "The Luna Famiglia," he mused, "the family of assassins that are a rank lower than the Varia. I remember you now." Lambo's foot hit the bazooka. He blinked.

"Uh-oh, it's in the rain," he grumbled. "Now I need to get Shouichi or Spanner to fix it. What a pain."

"Pay attention to your enemies!" Someone yelled at him. Lambo glanced at the group.

"Am I supposed to fight here?"

"We'll kill you, brat!" Someone growled. "And then we'll go after the Vongola Family!" Lambo frowned.

"I can't have you doing that." One of them shot at Lambo, who dodged it, thanks to evading all of Reborn's bullets when he got annoyed. Lambo pulled out whatever was in the bag and put it over his head. It was the Lightning Helm.

"This is heavy, no matter how many times I have to use it," Lambo complained as he thought. "Let's see… Corna molla elettro shock!" The attack, which attracts all sorts of metals, pulled the metal guns towards his long, curled horns and made the wielder's hands numb. Once they were unarmed, he used another attack he called Iron Horns Electric Shock. Lightning rumbled in the sky and a small bolt of lightning hit the horns. Green dying will flames, ignited with the help of lightning (Lambo was too lazy to do it himself) shot out from the curled horns like an extension. He charged at the group that clustered together, making them an easier target. Half of them jumped to the side, dodging the attack. They used their remaining guns to fire at Lambo, who ran back a few steps. When Lambo attacked them a second time, there was no doubt that they were going to lose. Lightning flashed and lit up the entire roof.

* * *

><p>"What was that?" Ryohei asked.<p>

"Green Dying Will flames…" Tsuna whispered.

"It's the Luna Family!" Gokudera yelled. "They specialize in Lightning Flames!"

"No," Tsuna mumbled. "It's…not them."

"Juudaime…?" Gokudera's voice showed his confusion.

"I…It doesn't feel like an enemy…more like an ally…"

* * *

><p>With that done, the helm returned to its original state and he took it off, pinning it between his right arm at his side lazily.<p>

"Yare yare. That was easier than the targets Octopus-Head gives me," he commented drily. He looked at the ten-year bazooka. It was well over five minutes. "At least I don't have to do my evening lessons with him." He dropped his now empty cow printed bag to the floor and took out a coat. After donning it and pulling the hood up, he fit the bazooka into the bag perfectly. He zipped it shut so it won't get into an even worse condition than it already was and opened a side pocket. Lambo took out a chocolate bar and slung the bag back over his shoulder, holding the helm instead. He bit into the chocolate bar as he exited the building.

"Well, they won't be bothering anyone for a while," he said to himself. "I bet they were going to attack Young Vongola from behind." He continued to walk forward and spotted a few figures up ahead. He recognized Yamamoto and Ryohei. That must mean that the others were Tsuna, Gokudera, Chrome, Bianchi, Basil and of course, Reborn.

"Yo, Young Vongola," He called out.

"Lambo-dono!" Basil exclaimed.

Tsuna spun around and his jaw dropped.

"Adult Lambo! How did you get here?"

He scratched his head. "I lost my candy so I went to look for it, I think…and then my younger self shot the bazooka. It malfunctions in the rain, so I can't get back to my own time yet."

"What's in the bag?" Yamamoto asked. Lambo shrugged.

"It's everything that I used to put in my hair when I was younger. I don't usually wear it because it doesn't match with my suit. But I needed my bag when I went on a mission. I was shot with the bazooka when I was giving my report to Vongola…" Tsuna gulped. He made Lambo go on missions? What madness is this?

Reborn asked, "How long are you going to be here for?"

"I don't know. The bazooka got dropped, shot at, rolled around, used as a shield, and soaked in the rain. I don't know when it will bring me back. It's malfunctioning, like I said before."

"Then you're fighting with us!" Gokudera growled. "You've caused enough trouble already; you might as well pay us back by helping out or else I'll bomb you!" Lambo had a horrified expression on his face.

"I didn't mean to replace your shampoo with super glue!" He exclaimed.

"WHAT!" Gokudera exclaimed. "When did you do that?" Lambo looked confused.

"What do you mean? I did it after the party."

"What party?" Tsuna asked. "The one we had for Kenshin-san?" Lambo shook his head.

"I'm talking about the one we had after coming home from some fight in the middle of the night…oh crap. That didn't happen yet, did it…?"

"Nope," Gokudera said, grinning wickedly. "But you just gave me an idea." Lambo froze.

"Oh." He ran. Gokudera gave chase. The rest followed close behind, trying to get them to lower their voices.

"The assault could come any time now," Reborn said. A minute after they caught up to Lambo who was now dizzily clinging onto Tsuna for support, they were enclosed in the night. Tsuna took out his gloves and looked around cautiously. All his Guardians had their Vongola Gear ready to be used. Gokudera had his dynamites wrapped around his body with a custom made igniter for his bombs in his mouth. Ryohei was in his boxing gear, his bangle showing the ten spots where sun flames can be lit. Chrome looked superior with the staff, and Yamamoto grinned as he checked his two swords. Tsuna was the only one not, because the flame on his forehead would alert enemies of his presence.

* * *

><p>"Hey, is that them?" A man whispered in the darkness to his partner. They were currently spying on a group of teenagers.<p>

"It might be them," he said. "You don't see many teenagers in a group of seven wander the streets at night."

"But we should make sure," the first man said. The second man smacked his partner's head.

"It _has _to be them. Look at the person walking in the front; he's a scrawny, short, quiet brat. It has to be Vongola the Tenth."

"True…so should we tell the group?" They were a group of twenty people. If they gave the signal, twenty assassins would be on those seven teens.

"Of course! Call the signal. We'll get a bonus too!" The second man smirked. He shot a flare and led the attack.

"O-Oi! What's going on?" One of the seven exclaimed as he used a hand to hold the wrist holding a blade. The others were quickly flooded by unknown assaulters but quickly and swiftly countered them.

"They must be the Luna Famiglia," the female of the group grumbled and whacked the man attacking her boss on the back, causing him to fall unconscious. He nodded his thanks and flew to the other side, where two of his guardians were being overwhelmed by ten of them.

"Are you two alright?"

"We were doing just fine before you came," one of them complained. Their boss smiled and shrugged.

"I want to make sure you're safe."

"Look out!" Someone yelled. Enma turned around just in time to block a sword and punch the man in the belly. That was the last of them.

"At least we lightened Tsuna-kun's load," Enma commented as he surveyed the assassins.

"We might be attacked again," Aoba said. "If only you didn't act like Tsuna all the time, we won't be mistaken for that twerp."

"Here are more of them. Don't they know they got the wrong family?" Adelheid asked. "We're going to be late for our train. She created a sharp icicle about two and a half inches thick and the length of her arm, wrist to elbow. She then threw it at a man thirty metres away. She created two more; one for each hand, but longer, acting as twin blades while also summoning ten clones.

"If it's this bad here, Vongola must have it worse," she commented and slashed at two more.

"I think at least half of them are already here. We're helping Tsuna, just like how the Shiimon swore to help the Vongola in times of trouble," Enma said when he landed beside Adelheid, not approving her way of being just centimetres away from severely huring the man, and telling her so. She simple grimaced and moved on, muttering something about being more careful next time. Enma sighed and quickly defeated three more.

* * *

><p>"MAXIMUM CANNON!" Ryohei roared. The building in between the oncoming enemies and his family collapsed in a heap so large it will take a few minutes to climb over. He turned to them. "That will buy us some <em>extreme time!" <em>He yelled.

"Scatter!" Reborn ordered right after. Basil went left with Gokudera and Yamamoto. Bianchi, Ryohei, Lambo, Tsuna, and Chrome went to the right. Then after crossing the next section, Ryohei and Lambo turned left, to get behind the enemies. Tsuna, Reborn and the rest continued on cautiously. Chrome spread her mist like a motion detector that would feel any movement within the circumference. Tsuna was sure that they were invisible to anyone who looked their way, but he was still nervous.

"Boss…" Chrome murmured. "Someone is near. I don't recognise this aura."

"H-How do you recognise an aura?" Tsuna asked curiously of all things. Chrome shrugged. "If they have entered my barriers before, I will remember it…" Out of the blue, something came at them from the side. Tsuna and Chrome ducked. He used his white mittens to stop the weapon two centimetres from his face. He stared at the spike covered tonfa.

"H-Hibari-san?" Tsuna whispered in surprise.

"…Omnivore. What are you doing here?" Hibari asked coldly. He was dressed in his Vongola Gear. Hibrid landed on HIbari's shoulder. He wore his pompadour proudly and chirped a greeting.

"Omnivore! Herbivore!"

Tsuna blinked and answered Hibari's question before the school prefect could get impatient.

"Huh? What do you mean? We have to get rid of the assassins who are after me… so that Namimori will be peaceful again," the last part was a last minute idea he had. Hibari grunted. "And we can't fight in town for obvious reasons…" Hibari pulled his tonfa back and Tsuna let go.

"Cloud man…" Chrome muttered, mentally storing the waves of Hibari's deadly aura into her head, although she didn't like the feel of it at all.

"Don't call me Cloud man. Or I'll bite you to death," Hibari snapped. Chrome backed away a tiny bit.

"H-Hai…"

"Wh-Where's Mukuro?" Hibari's eyes narrowed at the name.

"Herbivores disrupted out fight," he simply said. "He got there before me. I sensed herbivores here." He glared at Tsuna, who gulped. _Opps. Hibari was looking forward for a fight._

"Boss…Clou—" Hibari glared. "H-Hibari-san…" she corrected herself softly, "There are thirty men coming from our right." Hibari left them after threatening to bite Tsuna to death after all this was over. Tsuna let out a sigh.

"Thanks, Chrome. You're a life saver." She nodded her head mutely.

"There are also thirty-five coming to us from the front." Her boss became alarmed at the large numbers.

"What are you waiting for, Tsuna!" Reborn said. "Go fight them."

"What about Chrome?" He asked worriedly. Chrome frowned in confusion.

"What about me?" She asked innocently.

"Well…" he was about to say she was in no shape to fight, but thought the better of it. Tsuna remained silent when he remembered Viper saying that it will take a lot of powers to overcome her illusions. Chrome spoke.

"I am…one of your Mist Guardians…my job is to protect you with my life."

"N-Not with your life!" Tsuna said as he went into Hyper Mode, his red gloves covering half the sleeve's length of the jacket and his headphones on his ears. His flames showed brightly but that wasn't a problem anymore, since the enemy seemed to have found him already. "I don't want you to risk your own life protecting me," he said calmly, orange orbs staring into a purple one. "Don't do anything stupid, Chrome." She nodded.

"Let's go." He flew in the air and headed towards the enemy. Chrome made her way there by foot. Now that Tsuna was acting as a flare in the sky, all attention was fixed on him and not the mist user on the ground. While they tried unsuccessfully to shoot down her boss, she tapped the end of the staff. Fire erupted from the ground and thick, green vines tangled themselves into the limbs of the men. They cried in shock and surprise at the sudden attack. Then she weaved in the illusionary fire covered snakes into the vines which scared most of the assassins into unconsciousness. Chrome allowed herself to smile lightly.

"Don't get cocky," Reborn warned her as Leon turned into a gun. Bianchi had her poison cooking ready. With Tsuna as the distraction, it was easy to sneak up on the enemy.

A few finally noticed Chrome and charged at her. She allowed a moment of fear to cross her mind before plunging into battle using the combat skills she had mastered with Mukuro's help—the fourth path, Path of Asura. She dodged and swiped at feet. She blocked the blades and injured the wrists holding the weapons. Her hood came off and the earrings glinted against the metal. Her nose caught a scent of blood. She looked at the staff and realised that it had a thin layer of crimson blood before the rain washed it off. Chrome frowned in worry. She was sure that she hadn't _killed _anyone…yet…so she concluded that the blood must have been from petty wounds here and there. Someone roared behind her and she blocked the oncoming blow. Sparks flew as the blades clashed together. She saw a handsome man grinning evilly at her. Disgusted by the sight of a perverted looking young man, she knocked him out and casted illusions at to-be foes. Then her com crackled. She jumped in the air and made a wide arc with the staff and tumbled back down, landing on her black boots. The ten surrounding her collapsed as they saw themselves being crushed by the building. She placed a delicate hand to the earpiece and stood up.

_Chi-iik!_

"_We need an illusionist here!" _Gokudera's voice came through.

"What?" She asked stupidly.

"_Che! Damn girl! Where's Mukuro!"_

"He's fighting off a lot of people at the moment," she replied. "What's the problem?" She heard Gokudera swear in Italian.

"_Yamamoto and Basil are caught in a stupid illusion! I'm barely holding it off and I can't find that god damn illusionist!" _Chrome hit the butt of the staff to the ground and icy flames surrounded the men who were standing back up.

"I can help," she said in her soft voice.

"…_A-Are you sure?" _Gokudera asked.

"Pretty sure," Chrome replied. "But Boss will need someone else with him. I can't leave him alone."

"_Hn. At least you know that much. Fine, get to block E. It's not that far away. I'll fight by Juudaime. It's about time I do, too!" _And he disconnected. Chrome glanced at her boss, who seemed to be holding his own pretty well.

"_Boss, Storm man and I are switching places. They need an illusionist and Mukuro isn't around," _Tsuna heard Chrome say. He gave her a worried glance from the sky.

"Be careful." He saw her nod before dissolving. He flew higher to avoid the bullets and shook his head. Mukuro and those illusions of his—he even managed to teach Chrome that sneaky trick? Gosh. Better keep that in mind the next time he tries to do something secretive. They might thwart his plans if they suddenly show up.

Tsuna continued to avoid the many useless attacks aimed at him with knitted brows. He was especially careful when special bullets were aimed his way or when he used his X-Cannon. When he did, he made sure the flames were just powerful enough to knock them out with semi-severe burns. While some of them escaped to hide behind rubble, Bianchi would find them. It was dark they didn't know she was their enemy. And since they also had a few females in the squad, they thought she was one of them.

"Here, eat this. You'll feel better within seconds. Your burns will also be healed." She distributed the bite-sized cakes to the injured Luna Family members. They ate them greedily. Those who could still move stiffened and fell over. They didn't even know what hit them. A few minutes later, Gokudera came running and throwing bombs at the enemies.

"I finally get to fight alongside Juudaime!" He yells. "Bring it on!" He threw Rocket Bombs at them and each hit their mark. He weaved his way through the crowd, planting bombs on them as he passed by. Moments later, the dynamites he left blew up leaving a trail of black unconscious bodies behind him. Then three came at him at the same time.

"Tch. Idiots," he muttered and three dynamites. He tossed them at the trio and watched their shocked reaction as doom fell upon them—literally. Then Gokudera's head felt slightly heavier. Uri landed on his head just that moment and was digging her claws into his scalp for a better hold. Gokudera howled in pain and frustration.

"Not now, Uri!" Gokudera growled and pulled at the scruff of the cat's neck. He threw her into the midst of several enemies. "We're in a battle at the moment, if you haven't noticed! Help me fight off the enemies if you have time to hurt me!" Snarls erupted and men screamed. People not used to cat scratches from a box weapon would find the pain unbearable.

Gokudera glanced up at his boss who shot out another X-Cannon from the sky.

_This is too easy, _Gokudera thought bitterly. _Why are there so many here, and so few with Baseball Freak? There were only about ten of them, with an illusionist that could overpower us! _

Minutes later, the fight was over and not a single enemy stood to face them.

The brunet came back to earth. Gokudera ran to his side.

"Juudaime!"

"Gokudera! Are you alright?"

"Hai! It was a walk in the park," Gokudera exclaimed. Uri sat herself down by Gokudera's feet and preened her bloodied body and claws. Tsuna shivered at the sight.

Reborn hopped on the crate next to Tsuna's shoulder.

"That was too easy," Reborn said. "Why would the Luna Family send these idiots to fight the Vongola?" Tsuna and Gokudera exchanged a look. The tutor jumped to ground level and walked to an Italian man who was still groaning from Bianchi's cooking. He had dark blond hair cropped short to his ears. Tsuna and Gokudera followed curiously. Reborn pulled the man by his collar and slapped either side of his face. Tsuna winced at each slap.

"R-Reborn! What are you doing?"

"Getting information," he replied and said to the enemy, "Do you understand me?" Italian blue eyes looked into Reborn's coal black ones. There was a slight nod. "Answer the question."

"I understand you," he said in a hoarse, accented voice, probably made from screaming as Chrome casted her illusions.

"Why did the Luna send out such a weak force to fight against the Vongola?" Reborn questioned. The man swallowed once.

_They're going to kill me anyways, _he thought. _Why should I tell them? It's not like they're going to let me go. The Vongola is known to be the Mafia Family with the bloodiest history, after all. _Then he thought of something else. _Boss will kill anyone who comes back alive if we don't kill the Vongola Decimo…which means me. So I'll die either way. It just depends on how I want to die._

"If you don't tell us, I'll kill you," Reborn said. His green gun was on the man's temple. Tsuna freaked out.

"_REBORN! _NO KILLING PEOPLE ALLOWED! He can't even defend himself!" Tsuna cried. Reborn fired a warning shot next to his student's head which instantly moved out of the way.

"And no back talk to your tutor," Reborn countered. Tsuna bit his lip and stood firm.

"You are _not _killing him, Reborn!" He said, close to pleading. Reborn gazed at him for another minute before smirking. Tsuna was taken aback by the smirk.

"Wh-What?"

"Nothing." Reborn turned to the man who was slapped awake. "Well are you going to answer me or not?" The man said nothing. Tsuna waited anxiously, wondering how his other friends were doing. He didn't want to call to them through the communication devices because they may lose their concentration in battle.

"To tire them out," he murmured. "They sent many teams of assassins to attack the Vongola Family, but the boss isn't using the best combatants. He is using numbers to overwhelm you."

"What?" Tsuna quavered. "Your boss…your boss sent all those people…just to make me lose my _energy?" _The man frowned. Isn't that what always happened? Exhaust the enemy and attack at full force when they are weak. It was a strategy that many bosses have used successfully over the past centuries. Tsuna's voice rose to the point of cracking. "Those…those…are _lives _of his _family_…doesn't he know that they could all _DIE! _Doesn't he _CARE!" _Tsuna was so mad he wanted to beat their boss into a tiny pulp, something he's never felt about anyone before. Gokudera blanched.

"J-Juudaime…"

"Tsuna! Calm down," Reborn's squeaky voice said. Tusna couldn't speak in complete sentences.

"But—he—how—why—their—ugh!" Tsuna lifted his hands to the air and brought them back down in a defeated gesture and paced while pulling at his chocolate locks of hair. He swirled back to his companions.

"Then what do we do now, Reborn?" He asked.

"What should we do, Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn retorted. Tsuna backed up and looked at his tutor squarely.

"What are you talking about, Reborn?" He asked anxiously. Reborn raised an eyebrow.

"You're the boss." Gokudera also turned to the brunet.

"I'll follow any command Juudaime gives me! Do you want me to tie him up?" The four of them looked at the Luna member. He looked a sickly shade of green from eating one of Bianchi's cakes. _I don't want to tie him up; he's already suffering from Bianchi's cooking so much he can barely crawl, _he thought.

"Let's leave him," Tsuna said quietly. He began to walk away. "We have to look for the others."

"But…" Gokudera trailed off.

"We can't leave him so he can report back to his base," Bianchi said. Gokudera glowered.

"I'm agreeing with Aneki on this," he said hatefully. Tsuna said nothing. He had the feeling this man won't do that, for some reason. Reborn grinned. _He's finally trusting his Hyper Intuition._

"Wait," the man grumbled. Tsuna stopped. The man had a confused expression on his face. Why on earth did he even say anything?

"W-What?" Tsuna asked nervously. The man was about to say "Nevermind", but instead said, "There's a bit more to it…"

"Why are you telling us things about your family?" Reborn demanded. This might be a trap to make them believe in false information. He shrugged.

"Look—if you don't want to listen to me, I don't have to say it," he muttered, already slightly annoyed at the baby sitting on his chest. "I don't know why I want to help you anyways."

"Juudaime?" Gokudera waited for Tsuna to say something.

"What…were you going to tell us?" He asked.

"…The prophecy." They sucked in a breath at this statement. "It's fake."

"How would you know if it's fake or not?" Gokudera growled. "It was written down over a hundred years ago!"

"I overheard the boss talk about it!" He said. "I…shouldn't have, but I had to report something. I just happened to stand by the door and hear him talking to his advisor. He said that the secret passed down to him from his father, who got it from _his _father, and so on, told him that the oracle didn't say what we thought it did."

"Then what did it really say?" Tsuna cried. The man hesitated.

"I'm not sure how to say it in Japanese. I am originally half Italian and French. Japanese is my third language."

_For a third language, he's doing really well, _Tsuna couldn't help but be awed.

"Then speak in Italian or French," Reborn said. "Whichever one is easier for you and describes the prophecy your second boss received." He nodded and took in a deep breath. He closed his eyes and slowly recited what he remembered hearing through the door. As he spoke, Reborn's deep frown became a smirk.

"W-_WHAT?" _Tsuna shrieked loudly. Reborn glared at his student for making such a high pitched voice. _"That's _what the REAL one is about? Then why the heck are we fighting each other? I have to tell Onii-san to stop! It's pointless!" Tsuna was about to call them but Reborn interrupted him.

"Dame-Tsuna. Don't act so hastily. We haven't heard everything yet." The man continued.

"The second boss didn't agree with the oracle, so he changed it. Not even his closest, personal advisor knew the real one." Tsuna forced himself to not look at his friends at the mention of the Shimon spy.

"He's…telling the truth."

After deciding that his student knew what he was talking about, Reborn asked the man, "What are you going to do now? Join the Vongola Famiglia?" Tsuna looked at his tutor wide eyed.

"Reborn, what do you mean?"

"He just betrayed his family. They'll kill him if he goes back. He either hides for the rest of his life, or seeks protection with another family that can fend off his old one…that is, _if _any family would be stupid enough to accept a traitor."

"We can't take a traitor into the family! It's out of the question!" Gokudera said. "But…" he knew what his boss would say.

Tsuna bit his lip. There really wasn't much of a choice, in his opinion. He's not going to let someone get killed after he helped his family solve a problem.

"What's your name?" Tsuna asked suddenly. The man blinked at the question and answered.

"People call me Jacques. I was one of the sons of a man who saved the boss. Since there were no other living relatives to look after me, the family took in me and my younger brother. I don't have a last name." Tsuna frowned with sadness in his eyes. Jacques noticed.

"No need to look at me like that! They may have saved me, but I have repaid them more than a hundred times over."

"Oi, Tsuna, come here." Reborn whispered something into Tsuna's ear.

"No!"

Reborn smacked Tsuna's head and gave him a threatening look. Tsuna shivered and turned back to Jacques.

"Um…Jacques…san…?" His tongue moved awkwardly to pronounce the foreign name. "Would like you to join the Vongola Family? I don't want to cause you trouble because you helped us. Your brother as well, of course—he's your only other living real family member, right? But I want you to think about it first," he finished quickly. Jacques stared at him with utmost surprise. Reborn smirked.

"I see that you will also have to relearn your mafia history once you join. You can join the lessons I have with my student, Dame-Tsuna here." Tsuna yelped quietly. "The Vongola started out as a vigilant group; but since your family moved from France, you won't know of the first generation of the Vongola. I bet that all you have heard of our family is bloodshed," Reborn said.

"I-Isn't that what the Vongola is?"

"No!" Tsuna exclaimed. "We try to help people! I hate fighting! But…I have to…" he thought of Xanxus, who is loyal to the Vongola, but would do anything to kill Tsuna. Then he thought of his friends and all the hardships he overcame with them. "I have to gain more power to protect people who are dear to me!" Jacques' brows furrowed. _Can you be a mafia boss like that? _He wondered, for he has never heard of a mafia boss that doesn't enjoy fighting. Reborn smacked the man's head.

"The Vongola is not your average mafia family. Don't you ever forget that—if you do, join my student for training." Tsuna paled at the thought. This was the second time Reborn threatened Jacques as if he already joined the Vongola.

"Reborn…is it a…good idea for him to…train…with…me?" He asked. _It's going to be torture! _He screamed in his head. Reborn ignored him.

"Come in contact with us if you plan to join. Then you can swear your loyalty to the Vongola Famiglia." Jacques nodded faintly. "Go and find your family, Tsuna," Reborn concluded.

"Eh? Reborn, aren't you coming with us?" Bianchi asked worriedly.

"I have something else I have to deal with before all these lunatics wake up." He walked away. They stared after him for another second before walking away. Tsuna smiled and helped Jacques into a better sitting position before leaving. Once they left, Jacques thought about that strange conversation he just had with the boss of his ex-rival family.

"Ugh…" some people a few metres away groaned as they woke up. It was Jacques' group of men who were good friends with him. _We will all be killed if we return to base._

"Brother!" A dark figure similar to Jacques' own ran to him. "Iota, are you alright?" He called weakly to his brother. Iota turned on a small flashlight he carried with him and looked over his older brother.

"I should be asking you that! You were just sitting here, and then you fell! I thought you were dead!" Pass the light, Jacques noticed that his brother suffered from burns on his arms which he used to shield his face.

"Iota, you're hurt!"

"This is nothing!"

"Oh, shut up, you idiot! I'm not injured! Look after yourself first!" Jacques growled. He learned that he was suffering from poison cooking, but he had a strong stomach that doesn't give up easily. He'll be fine in a few minutes.

"If only I can heal you," he sighed and brushed lightly against his brother's wounds. Suddenly, yellow flames lit the ring he had on his finger and it traveled up towards his brother's already charred skin. Both of them screamed and fell away. Iota landed on his back and Jacques hit his hand in an anxious attempt to move it away as quick as possible from his brother. The flames disappeared. After a minute of tight silence, Iota said, "That didn't hurt."

"What? Off course it did! Have you dropped your brain somewhere?"

"I'm serious! That didn't hurt one bit! Do it again." He looked at his younger brother who had the familiar crazy glint in his eyes. Iota was always the one who liked to try things out first no matter how dangerous or crazy the idea was.

"Hell no! I'm throwing this away! And tying you up until you're sane again!" He was pulling off the ring with some trouble. It was stuck at the first knuckle, and Iota was doing his best to make Jacques keep it. They wrestled over it as more of their friends made their way over to see what was going on. It was rare to see the two fighting.

"What are you two doing?"

"Get 'im off me!" Jacques growled, knocking his head against his brother's, which was equally as hard and thick skinned as his.

"No!" Iota cried when they tried to pull him off.

"For god sake, you're twenty five! Act like one!"

"He has a ring that can heal wounds!" Iota blurted out.

"I do not!"

"You do too!"

"Jacques, stop for a moment," his best friend, Kyle, said. "Why don't we just see this ring?" Jacques sighed and pushed his brother off him, who continued to cling to his hand in case he changed his mind.

"It suddenly lit up when I touched Iota's skin," he explained. "I have no idea why it would do that."

"Try doing it again." Jacques tried to light the flame.

"It's not working."

"Maybe you imagined it," someone suggested.

"We didn't! Look at my arm! There's a spot that's healed!" Iota shoved it in Kyle's face.

"H-Hey! You're right!"

"What?" Jacques said. "Let me see…holy…" It was true. When he thought of healing his brother's arm, the flame came. Maybe it only appears when he wants to heal someone…

_Fwump! _It was so bright it lit up three quarters of the area.

"Shit!" Someone exclaimed. "That's amazing!" Without a second thought, Iota stuck his arm into the flame. Jacques yelled in alarm.

"Hey, nothing's happening!" Iota complained. "It worked before!"

"Does anyone other than me think this is crazy!" Jacques yelled. Apparently, he was.

"Come on, Jack, it probably only works when you _try _to heal me!" Iota jumped around. "Hurry up! Hurry up!" Jacques sighed and played along. _Come on, heal my brother…please…_ he pleaded to an unknown power, which he has yet to know, was his own. The flames laced around his fingers and wound around the arm. In seconds, it looked as good as new. Even Iota's old scars were gone. Before long, there was a line up to get their most serious wounds treated. No one was dead and Jacques didn't think that was a coincidence. He suddenly fell unconscious and his brother caught him.

"H-Hey! What's going on?" He asked. "Kyle! Help me out!" He came running.

"What happened?"

"I don't know! He just suddenly collapsed."

"Jacques!" Someone else cried. "Is he alright?"

"Maybe he got hurt somewhere else?" Another suggested.

"Hey—!"

"But—"

"He okay?"

"What's up?"

"Make room! He has to breathe!" Kyle shouted at them.

"Whoa, what happened to him?" Iota tried to answer the questions.

"Do you think he's dead?" The last question shushed the group.

"I-I don't think so…o-oi, Jack! Wake up!" He slapped his brother's face hard. He felt for his pulse. It was there, but going too slow. Someone stepped out.

"I've been around doctors and nurses a lot. I can tell you whether he's dead, if he has a concussion, if he fainted, if he's injured, or if he's just taking a nap." People snickered at the last option. Iota ignored then and allowed him to look at his brother.

"I won't be surprised if he just decided to sleep right here," Kyle muttered. "He's done it before."

"He's just exhausted."

"Thanks, Luka," Iota sighed.

"Does this mean using that ring makes him tired?" Kyle wondered. "It looks like it. Maybe he shouldn't use it so much then." He answered his own question.

Jacques stirred. "What happened to me?"

"You fainted," Luka said.

"Is everyone here?" he asked as he sat up, nodding to his brother.

"No, they're looking to see if there's anyone else out there that needs medical help. I'll go join them. Take care of yourself," Luka stood up and vanished in the darkness.

"Iota…" Jacques said softly. "I'm planning on joining the Vongola." Iota looked surprised for a moment, but then he smiled.

"Yeah." Jacques looked at his brother questioningly. "Boss is going to kill us if we return. And joining the Vongola might be a better idea. I mean, look at this. That kid we were supposed to kill? He has practically unlimited powers but not a single one of us had wounds or cuts too severe to heal. He has a kind heart, which could be a good thing or a bag thing." Kyle walked over to them.

"If you're going, I'm going," he said. "You're not going anywhere without someone to stop your crazy antics."

"It's not me, it's him," Jacques pointed a thumb at his brother with a big grin on his face. Kyle laughed. Jacques had first thought that he would have to argue his way into convincing his friends that he was joining the Vongola no matter what they say. _Who am I fooling? _He asks himself. _They are my family. Of course they'll agree. I should have known about that._

"What are you talking about?" Another man, Laurier demanded. He walked up to them frustrated. Jacques frowned. It was one of the men he didn't particularly like. "You're planning on betraying the Luna Famiglia!" Jacques gazed at him with a calm face.

"It is my decision."

"Well I won't let you!" Jacques hesitated. "I'll stop you from betraying our family! What have they done for you? Our family saved you when you would have died on the streets. And now you're going to turn your back on us?" He demanded.

"Think about what's waiting for you back at home!" Jacques shouted and pulled at the collar of Laurier's shirt front. "They'll kill every single one of us when we go back! The Vongola has spared us our lives! And I have a feeling they are more strong willed than the Luna Famiglia."

"Tch! Fine. I'll just have to kill all of you right now," Laurier said icily. Jacques let go of him.

"Laurier…"

"Come on," Iota said. "Just let us go. We've had enough of assassinating people who just look at the boss the wrong way. Sure, if someone is a threat towards the family, I'm fine with that, but just because a poor man made eye contact with the boss? That's wrong."

"You—are—a—threat. Towards the family." Laurier hissed. Half of the group stood behind him while the other half stood behind Jacques. Their weapons were out.

"Come on, can't we just talk about it?" Iota reasonably.

"There's nothing to talk about!"

"You can just say we died in battle and let us go?" Iota suggested. Jacques and Kyle smacked Iota on both sides of his head.

"Ow!"

"That was a stupid question," Jacques said. Kyle agreed.

"They're obviously not going to let us go. Why did you even bother asking them?" Iota laughed weakly and shrugged.

"Because I'm diplomatic…?" He offered. Jacques scoffed.

"Laurier, you owe me a favour. Let us go." Laurier paused and lowered his gun.

"Fine. Just this once. But if I see you again, bearing any sign of the Vongola or any other famiglia, I'll kill you," He promised and walked away. Slowly, his followers also left, their eyes promising the same fate.

"That went well," Kyle mused.

"Why didn't you tell me you owed him a favour?" Iota said exasperated. "If I knew sooner, I could have convinced him to not snitch on me when I nearly broke Boss' favourite vase!" Jacques rolled his eyes.

"Let's go."

"Go? Where?" Iota asked.

"The Vongola; their boss already asked me to join them after Reborn told them we would be killed if we go back." Iota stopped walking and stared at his brother in shock. Jacques put a finger under his brother's chin and snapped his jaw shut. From the pressure on his finger, he knew that if he removed it the jaw would simply drop again. "There's also something I have to tell you guys," he observed the fifteen friends who stood looking at him. "It's about the prophecy. It's false."

* * *

><p>Kenshin was lying flat on the roof looking down at the team that was about to attack the Vongola Decimo. He heard them speaking and switched his thinking into Italian mode.<p>

"We have to succeed," one said.

"Yeah…I don't want to think what will happen if we don't kill the Decimo."

"I wonder how the other teams are doing outside of Japan?"

_What other teams? _Kenshin thought.

"They should be doing alright. The attack on Vongola Headquarters should be starting in a few minutes." Kenshin's eyes were filled with shock. These were assassins, trained for at least ten years for their job. The Vongola were also very powerful. This is going to be a hard winning fight…

"But the prophecy was to defeat the tenth generation, not the ninth," the second person said.

"Once we kill the tenth, we'll have to fight against the ninth family and possibly kill them as well. I think it is better that we're attacking them at the same time."

The conversation went on and Kenshin's blood went cold.

* * *

><p>Reborn jumped his way up a warehouse roof and landed without a single sound. He guessed correctly.<p>

"Like what you saw?" He asked the detective who nearly fell from the roof.

"Wh-Wha?" Reborn pushed the man to the ground with ease and pointed the gun between his eyes.

"What do you know about the Luna Family?" He demanded.

"Wha-t?" Kenshin answered dumbly.

"We know that you're a detective. Now spit it out!" Reborn cocked the gun and fired a warning shot into Kenshin's left hand.

"_GAAAAAAH!" _Kenshin screamed. It wasn't so deep that he could bleed to death, but it still hurt all the same. Reborn readjusted the gun so it was under his jaw.

"I have no time for patience. Now tell me or else I shoot."

"I-I'll tell! I'll tell! Don't shoot!" He said desperately. "I-I found their base…" Reborn's expression didn't change.

"Go on."

"A-And it's in the eastern part of Italy…" he said, "They have a temporary one in Namimori…where the assassins stay…"

"How do you know about the one in Italy?" Reborn asked.

"I-I was investigating them before I took this case…" Kenshin said slowly. The gun didn't move.

"What else is the family planning? And how did you get the information? Was it from a reliable source?" Reborn asked. It was a long shot, but maybe… Kenshin nodded his head quickly.

"I h-had a team working with me…I'm still on that case, since I reported that…the Luna Famiglia has come…" Kenshin told him everything, since he was sure the baby could tell if he was hiding or lying about a particular piece of information.

"Is that all?" Reborn asked.

"The family is also planning on…assassinating the ninth generation…and to kill everyone who stops them…and to erase the majority of the people who had very close connections to the two families…" Reborn tsked and let the detective go.

"If you value your life, get away from here." Kenshin stared at the baby.

"O...okay…?" Reborn knocked him out. Again. And he went to join his pupil in the search for the underbosses. Leon switched to the cell phone and he called the ninth as he walked.


	12. Fighting: Begins!

**Chapter Twelve**

"Extreme! Let's go boxing, Sawada's friend!" Ryohei roared to Lambo who was trying his best to keep up. He had just started his stamina training programme in the future, and he was _not _good at running…unless his life depended on it—which at the moment, it didn't.

"Ne…_huff…_ Ryohei, how are you going to fight them?"

"What are you talking about?" Ryohei shouted over his shoulder. "Just ask them if they want to have a boxing match and if they accept, we fight! Whoever gets a knock out wins! And you aren't allowed to get knocked out, Sawada's friend! I'm in charge of protecting you!"

Lambo pouted. "I don't need you to look after me. And my name's Lambo, not Sawada's friend!"

"Lambo? You have the same name as this other kid I know who lives in Sawada's house!" Lambo half groaned and sighed. "Whatever. Forget it."

"Did you say something?" Ryohei asked.

"Nothing—hey! Stop right now!" Lambo called. Ryohei stopped out of curiosity.

"What's wrong?"

"Just…look ahead. They're climbing over. Do they really think we're staying where they can get us?" Lambo said. A strong blast of wind passed him. He turned to ask Ryohei where it came from. "Huh?" He looked around. Ryohei wasn't behind him. He was charging at the enemy with a full battle cry.

"LET'S FIGHT TO THE _EXTREME!" _Ryohei told them and got into his boxing stance. They rushed at him. He got into the dodging position and avoided bullets and knives. He punched when they were near enough and allowed a few of their punches to hit him to power the bangle.

Lambo sighed again. He watched as the Sun Guardian pivoted on the spot and threw people ten metres away. Getting bored because he could see Ryohei could handle them all, Lambo took out a piece of candy and popped it into his mouth. But half an hour later, he noticed Ryohei's movements getting slow.

"Hey, Ryohei! Is something wrong?" Lambo called out.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Ryohei shouted.

"You're getting a bit slow!"

"HEY, LOOKS LIKE I _EXTREMELY _AM!" Ryohei exclaimed in surprise. "How can that be possible! They must be stronger than I thought!" Lambo frowned and rubbed his temples. He concentrated on the Luna Family members and he saw that they weren't taking the Sun Guardian's punches head on. Like Ryohei, they were letting the hits slide by, but with the addition of small, barely noticeable flames protecting the aimed area, they were _not _getting hit at all.

"Gosh. Lawn-Head really makes me fight, doesn't he?" He muttered to himself and put on the Lightning Helm.

"Look extremely out for the green bullets!" Ryohei said after Lambo jumped out of the way of a green shimmering bullet that reminded him of Xanxus' guns, but weaker.

"What?" Lambo asked. He didn't remember anything about these bullets. He really needed to start listening to the history of the battles Gokudera tells him they've been through at this age.

"YOU'LL EXTREMELY DIE IF YOU GET HIT BY ONE!"

"No duh!" Lambo cried. "Of course I'll die if I get hit by one!"

"_Stupid Cow!"_ Gokudera's voice came through the ear piece Reborn had given him before they separated.

"Eh?"

"_You will never heal from those bullet wounds! Even a small scratch can kill you!" _Lambo stiffened and shuddered.

"Y-You aren't lying to me, are you, Bakadera?"

"_Che! I don't have time to lie to you! Juudaime will kill me if he realises I didn't warn you!" _That reason was sound enough, so Lambo believed him.

"SUN SHINE COUNTER!" Ryohei roared and hit five men with thirty percent of his power.

Another half hour later, the enemy grew to twenty people. Ryohei noticed that two of them were staying far behind and not even trying to attack. Instead, they were speaking into headsets and talking to each other while giving Ryohei and Lambo an occasional glance.

_What are they extremely doing? _He wondered. Then his face lit up. _Maybe they are the underbosses? Master Pao Pao told me they were strong TO THE EXTREME!_

"_Oi! Mister Underboss! I challenge you to a battle!"_ He screamed over the grunts and shouts directed at him. He thought that they only understood Italian, so he spoke the first few words he learned: "Mister" and "I challenge you to a battle!" The underbosses heads turned to him. They both had brown and green hair. Their white faces were pale in the darkness. He saw their smirks and took that as a yes.

"Lambo number two!" Ryohei yelled at Adult Lambo. "Cover me!" With that, he charged forward, pushed the rest away which scared Lambo. He was supposed to fight these men alone?

"I HATE YOU, TURF-TOP!" Lambo yelped as he struck the group with lightning, missing the Guardian by a hair. Ryohei didn't hear him and pushed onwards, trusted Sawada's friend to not let anyone interfere with his fight against the underbosses.

* * *

><p>Yamamoto, Basil, and Gokudera were staying close to the building. Yamamoto laughed noiselessly.<p>

"It's like we're playing a war game," he said and grinned.

"Stupid baseball freak!" Gokudera whispered. "That's basically what we're doing, and it's _not _a game. If you get shot at, you're dead!"

"I know," Yamamoto replied seriously, "just trying to lighten up the mood." Gokudera was started by this sudden serious attitude Yamamoto showed rarely. _Che. He's taking this seriously… _he thought as he nodded his head. _It is better that he does! If he doesn't, he might get Juudaime injured!_

"Gokudera-dono, look," Basil whispered. Gokudera squinted towards the direction Basil pointed at with his weapon. He didn't see anything in the dark, moonless night. He cursed. It shouldn't be _this _dark even without the moon. Didn't the street lights near this area still work?

Yamamoto's quick, baseball player eyes saw the quick movement. "Hey, I see something moving there…"

"Yeah now I see it," Gokudera whispered. They stopped walking and scanned the area. They noticed more noises coming from what they thought were shadows.

"What should we do?" Yamamoto wondered, fingering his swords.

"We fight them, of course!" Gokudera growled quietly.

"Wait, Gokudera-dono! Let's sneak up on them and take them out a little at a time," Basil suggested. Gokudera grunted.

"Fine. We sneak up on them. Get the ones at the ends of the group. Yamamoto will take them out and Basil will pull them aside with me." Yamamoto shrugged and agreed. It sounded good to him. Basil also nodded. He put his weapon away and looked at the shadows through his bangs. Gokudera waited for the right moment, which only someone who was good at physics could see. "Go."

Yamamoto stuck to the building and moved towards the group slowly, using abandoned work tables and equipment to his benefit. The rain also helped disfigure him as he walked as calm as the rain towards the group. To Gokudera's horror, he had started a conversation with one of them. He barely stopped himself from killing the baseball freak but he made himself stay in the shadows and trust Yamamoto's judgement no matter how much he hated doing that. Then Yamamoto patted the man on his back. The second time his arm came down, he purposely hit a nerve to make the man pass out. Basil caught him and Gokudera lifted the man's legs with one hand and used the other one to pull Yamamoto back.

"You idiot!" He hissed into the smiling face. "What were you doing?" Yamamoto smiled softly.

"They are cautious people, Gokudera," he said. "They would have been suspicious if I suddenly walked up to them without speaking. I had to do it that way." Gokudera glared and let go. "You've got a point."

"Now," Yamamoto said cheerfully. "Shall we get the other one?"

"I'm ready," Basil said after tying and gagging the guy.

Slowly, one by one, they took out a good portion of the group before they realised what was happening. Once that happened, they began to attack in earnest. Yamamoto backed Gokudera up when he was surrounded by too many. Basil was in Hyper Dying Will Mode and fighting three at once with ease. When Gokudera growled and screamed at Yamamoto to leave him alone, he went to look for the underboss. He found one of them in the middle of the group, looking at him. Yamamoto narrowed his eyes as he faded into the mist.

"An illusionist," Yamamoto commented. "Then I'll use…" He held the swords that were still in their sheaths criss-crossed, ready to release his special twelfth offensive form, Brazen Left Blade Drizzle. Drizzle for short. He pulled out both swords. Small slashes appeared on the men in front of Yamamoto, and floating blood wounds were two metres away from Yamamoto's left. He turned his sword to that direction. The illusionist was visible again.

"Why you…" the man said.

_Shigure Souen Style: Special Offensive Twelfth Form, Brazen Left Blade Drizzle. __That attack is very useful when fighting against illusionists, _Yamamoto thought. He knew this from the fight he had with Daemon Spade a while ago. Then he used the rain to his advantage and released another offensive form at the man who leaped into the air, higher than humanly possible and dodged the attack. The man chuckled.

"Who are you?" Yamamoto asked.

"You may call me Array." The underboss said. Yamamoto cocked his head and laughed.

"What an odd name. Doesn't that mean an "assortment of something" in some other language?" He asked innocently. Array snarled and became level with Yamamoto in an instant.

"I'm going to kill you."

"I'd…rather that not happen," Yamamoto said slowly and parried an attack going for his neck. He eyed his opponent's weapon and blinked. He concentrated hard, shook his head and jumped back. He blinked a few more times in confusion. He looked at Array's face which seemed pleased.

Yamamoto was about to ask Array about the weapon he was holding but decided not to.

"Something wrong?" Array taunted. Yamamoto narrowed his eyes again. The weapon was fading in and out of the mist. It also had the ability to make Yamamoto lose concentration. How was he going to fight against this? _Don't look at the blade, _Yamamoto thought. He raised his swords again and looked at Array's eyes instead.

"Oh? You aren't giving up yet?" he smirked.

"Never," Yamamoto said. "Not when you're a danger to my family." Something in Array's mind irked him.

"Fine. I'll eliminate you as I see fit." They charged at each other and Yamamoto's sword clashed against something that rung a dull metallic clang. Distracted, Yamamoto looked at the blade again. He saw the misty shape of a war scythe. It was long, dark silver and the blade was wide with waves going along the sharp edges. It had intricate moon crescent designs on it as well as chains attached to the handle. Then it shimmered and disappeared. Yamamoto blinked and looked at the user who was suddenly in front of him. He raised his sword just in time to stop the mysterious weapon from slicing through his shoulder. He squinted and tried to concentrate on Array to no avail.

He saw memories of his life before and after he met Tsuna and became involved in the mafia. Now that he was comparing the two, he found out that he had more fun than he ever did when he was doing crazy things with Tsuna and his friends. Yamamoto grinned as he thought.

"Watch out, you baseball-freak!" Gokudera screamed. Yamamoto was suddenly jolted out of his daydream and looking at the scythe coming down at him in a downwards chop. His eyes widened when he realised he had no time to move. Gokudera tackled the boy and they went tumbling into a small group of Luna Family members who were quickly defeated by the experienced Basil. Then Basil fended off Array while his two friends were down.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? The enemy was right in front of you!" Gokudera shook Yamamoto's shoulders, causing the swordsman's head to hit the grass. He came out of his daze and smiled weakly up at his friend.

"Th-Thanks…Gokudera…you saved me." Gokudera stopped shaking and sniffed defiantly.

"I don't care if you die or not. It's just that it'll be a pain in the ass if you did. Just…be more careful, you got that?" Yamamoto still had his smile on his face.

"Yeah…only, it's hard to concentrate on that scythe of his. It's always shimmering like the mist Mukuro uses to surround himself with when he surprises us." Gokudera sweat dropped at the words Yamamoto chose to use when describing Mukuro's sneakiness.

"What are you talking about?" He asked unsteadily.

"He…has this…" Yamamoto sat up and used his hands to try to describe what he saw. Unfortunately, he was a visual and didn't explain things in words easily. He spread his arms to show how long the weapon was and then showed the curve of the blade. "And then it goes _whoosh!" _He blew out a breath and waved his hands around. "It disappears when it strikes my Shigure Kintoki." He clutched onto the handle of his bamboo sword. Gokudera was still for a moment.

"Baseball Freak! Didn't you improve your fighting skills against illusionists after you defeated Genkishi?" He demanded.

"Yeah…" Yamamoto dragged on. "But I'm not an expert at fighting them! I can still get confused now and then, especially when the opponent is tough." Yamamoto laughed.

"Gokudera-dono! Yamamoto-Dono, are thee finished thy conversation yet?" Basil asked them. The two looked up. Basil was being overwhelmed by Array.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry! I'm coming!" Yamamoto got up quickly to assist the young CEDEF member. Gokudera growled at the happy-go-lucky baseball player and swept him off his mind; he had his own fight to look after.

* * *

><p>The man who stood in front of Ryohei had his legs apart in a fighting stance. In his hand he held a short staff, just a bit longer than his arms' length. His fine features showed no evidence of past battles. That meant he was either inexperienced, or so good no one was able to land a blow on him. Ryohei was determined to break that record. The man had a straight face but his eyes gave away his bloodthirsty excitement. His muscles told Ryohei that he was getting ready to pounce. Ryohei stood straight up.<p>

"HOLD ON A MINUTE!" he screamed. The man looked confused and suspicious. "WE HAVE TO EXTREMELYINTRODUCE OURSELVES!" Blue eyes narrowed.

"What?" A smooth voice asked coolly.

"We have to introduce ourselves before we battle!" Ryohei said. "I'M SASAWAGA RYOHEI! SAWADA'S SUN GUARDIAN! AND IT'S _EXTREMELY _NICE TO MEET YOU!" The man smirked.

"Lazare. Lightning Guardian."

"EXTREME! THAT'S THE SAME AS LAMBO, THIS KID WHO LIVES AT SAWDA'S HOUSE!" Ryohei exclaimed, still unknown to the fact that Adult Lambo _was _Lambo.

Lambo at the moment heard this and was glad that Ryohei was such a thickhead. _If he knew I was actually Lambo he would probably force me to fight that guy! _Lambo shivered as this thought went through his head. He thought that maybe he should tone down his attacks a bit…as to not attract so much attention…

"You will regret becoming Vongola Decimo's guardian," Lazare told Ryohei as he lifted his left hand which had the staff. His hand sparked with green lightning. A moment later, the staff was covered with a thick layer of Lightning Dying Will flames.

"Extreme!" Ryohei said. "But I don't regret being Sawada's guardian!" Lazare sneered.

"Tell me that _after _I kill you." And he jumped from his ledge. Ryohei stood firm and met him head on. He yelled a battle cry as his fist connected with the electrical rod.

"_EXTREEEME!" _Lazare grunted and glared at the youth. How could he withstand such a high voltage shock? Even _he_ had to train for a year before being immune to it. Then he was punched by the boxer's left fist. If Lazare had been a normal person, he would have been knocked unconscious, with a broken jaw. Unfortunately, he was one of the strongest people in the Luna Family. Which meant it would take much more than a single punch to defeat him. Ryohei stood dazed for a second before he shook it off. Being the Guardian who took Lambo on the crazy rides, he was always the one to feel the sparks that came off a frightened Lambo.

"I WILL FIGHT _TO THE EXTREME!" _Ryohei shouted. Lambo sweat dropped as he shocked the group of people for a third time. Why weren't they down yet? Usually, it only took one shot to deal with these weaklings. One of them ran at him with a suicidal expression. Alarmed by the sudden charge, Lambo gave the man the highest voltage he could muster. It drained him slightly, but it was worth it. What he saw cleared up the confusion he had before. These soldiers had a thin layer of green flames shielding them from harm. The lightning the guardian shot at the charging man made the shield crack. The man screamed as he felt the pain he never needed to feel before because of the shield. The other men stepped back, surprised that one of them got fried even though they were reassured that they were protected. Lambo rushed over to the fallen enemy and swore one of Gokudera's favourite praises. The man was a goner. He stood up with slits for eyes as he glared at the opponents. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he found the fine threads attached to each soldier's back. As he rushed at them, he saw that they all led to one place: the underboss. He smirked inwardly, giving the enemy no reason to suspect that he had a way to counter this impossible death trap that was wearing him out.

He spared a glance at his left hand, where he kept a ring he received from Yamamoto for his sixteenth birthday. He never used it before and it was now or never.

_-Flashback-_

"_Tch! I can't believe it!" Gokudera exclaimed in a mixture of surprise, disgust, and satisfaction. Lambo stared at his left hand in shock. On its middle finger, was one of Gokudera's Class A Rain Attribute rings he stole for fun. And, to their surprise, a good sized Rain Dying Will flame appeared on its surface._

"_G-Gokudera!" Lambo stutterd. "D-Does-d-d-d-does this—w-what the hell does this mean?" Gokudera snapped out of his shock and knocked the younger boy over the head._

"_YOU STUPID COW! This means you CAN ALSO USE RAIN FLAMES!" Lambo almost fainted from astonishment but managed to hold himself together._

"_Wh-what?" He yelped, not unlike Tsuna's fifteen year old self. Gokudera was hitting his forehead against the wall of the hallway they were in. Maids passing by stared at them curiously. Curiosity turned to worry when they saw a red blotch appear on the white wall. They rushed to find someone to calm him down._

"_Stupid-stupid-stupid-stupid-stupid-stupid-stupid," he chanted. "I should have found out earlier. If I did, I could have collaborated your training with lightning flames with your rain flames. Now I need to go back to square one and teach you how to use the rain element. And then I have to tutor you as you figure out techniques with the combined flames. I'm sorry Juudaime! I promised you his training will be finished before his sixteenth birthday!"_

"_Huh?" Lambo shouted. He didn't like this one bit because it meant more work on his side. "But Octopus-Head! Lightning flames and Rain flames don't match at all! You can't do anything with the two!" Gokudera instantly stopped punishing himself and glared hotly at Lambo._

"_What…did you say…?" Gokudera asked darkly. Lambo gulped and tried to sink into the ground._

"_I-I said…"_

"_You…just said…that Lightning flames and Rain flames…are…useless…together…?" He asked dangerously. His face was shadowed by his bangs. Lambo quavered under the intensity._

"_U-Um…?"_

"_YOU…OHMIGOD! YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT! DID YOU LEARN NOTHING DURING THE TIME I TUTORED YOU? _ONE YEAR! _And you—hell!" The Vongola Mansion finally stopped shaking as Gokudera calmed down. Then his innocent cell phone rang. There was a pause. He answered it without looking at the caller ID. If he did, he would have thrown it out the window._

"_Who the hell is this?" He growled._

"_Heh, Yo, Gokudera," Yamamoto chuckled. "What's the ruckus about this time? I was—" Gokudera's eyebrows twitched at the cheerful voice. _

"_Shut. Up. _Rain._ Guardian. I don't want to see, hear, smell, touch, or _taste _anything to do with rain right now. Not even if I'm going to die of thirst." The fact that Gokudera wasn't yelling made Lambo extremely scared for his future. He distinguished the blue Dying Will flame as if that will revert things back to how they were._

"_G-Gokudera…" He almost hit himself for choosing the worst possible moment to speak. Gokudera's intake of breath warned him of another lecture. Instead, Gokudera sighed and dragged Lambo back to the library._

_-Flashback End-_

Lambo lit the ring. He instantly felt a cool sensation pass over his body that calmed his mind. As one, he covered the enemy's threads of flame with the tranquilizing rain and over that, the strongest lightning flames he could muster. It _flew_ at the second underboss so fast there was only a flash of light before the flames twinkled out of existence. Out of the corner of his eye, Lambo noticed a woman with a green arm badge faint, collapsing onto the ground with a hard thump. This was lost in the roars which were trying to scare Lambo. But he knew he had the upper hand now. It seems that these idiots didn't know they weren't protected anymore. Feeling even more drained, Lambo took in a deep breath and raised his curled horns to the sky. Thunder could be heard right above then with flashes of lightning threatening to strike at the group. Then he let out a grunt and a victorious cry before releasing the lightning. No one stood a chance. Lambo moved around them, making sure they were all just unconscious and not dead.

He turned around and smacked his hand to his head. Why? Because Ryohei and Lazare were standing in…shock…their clothes were burnt with soft, quiet, sizzling noises coming out of them. Lazare was the first to move. The second he saw lightning clouds gather, he threw up his shield. Right after it was intact they were all hit by the bolts of lightning. He toned down his shield and turned his head to Lambo.

"So. You're—"

"_THAT HURT TO THE EXTREME!" _Ryohei screamed with his arms raised. Garyuu, his box weapon, simply jumped once and punched Ryohei on the arm none too lightly, reminding him that they were facing an opponent at the moment. Ryohei looked at Lambo, who was kneeling on the floor with his helm back to its original state.

"OI! SAWADA'S FRIEND! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" He roared. Getting no reply, he assumed that he was taking a breather. "Ah! You can rest there! I'll finish this in a moment!" He said reassuringly to the unconscious Lambo. Lazare made a move for the boy. Ryohei blocked his path with a determined face.

"Your fight is with _me," _he said. Lazare glared. "You can take the revenge of your fallen comrade by fighting against me." Lazare's glare turned to an amused look.

"You think I was going to avenge that useless woman?"

"You…weren't?" Ryohei asked, _extremely _confused.

"We work alone. _I_ only follow the boss because he amuses me. Some others might respect him, but I just like the _fun_ of it. That woman doesn't matter to me. It's her fault she got killed by a mere boy of only sixteen or seventeen."

Ryohei felt disturbed by what he said, because it reminded him of a certain marshmallow obsessed guy.

"Then why are you going after the guy?" Ryohei asked, meaning Lambo.

"Because he electrocuted me," Lazare said through gritted teeth. "Even if it didn't harm me, he still _dared _to do it!" Ryohei cocked his head.

"I _extremely _don't understand! He struck me too, and you don't see me going after him!" Lazare sweat dropped. He looked like he wanted to kill Ryohei for his stupidity.

"But I won't let you, no matter what your reason is." Light on his feet, Ryohei's Sunshine Uppercut, aimed at Lazare's jaw, swiftly glided off the staff instead. Then he followed through with a hit on Ryohei's left side of the neck. Two small flames lit the bangle.

_Extreme strength! I have to be careful with this man!_ Ryohei grunted. He raised both fists in a boxing pose and went at Lazare again, who easily blocked or dodged his attacks. This went on for another fifteen minutes, and Ryohei decided that he had assessed this man enough to begin fighting seriously. He lifted his left arm for a punch in his gut and as the staff went to block, his right hand, shining with a bit of sun Dying Will flames, connected with Lazare's temple. They separated. Ryohei shook his left arm, which tingled. Garyuu looked on, slightly concerned for his partner. He touched his nose to Ryohei's arm and calmed down the nervous system.

"Thanks!" Ryohei appreciated the help. He turned back to Lazare, who was holding his head. Ryohei took this opportunity to strike once again, _this _time, in the gut. Then Lazare whipped the staff against Ryohei's side, lighting three more sun flames on the bangle. He used the end of the staff to hit Ryohei's right cheek. He flew back about twenty metres and stayed down, blinking away his surprise. He sat us and looked at the kangaroo.

"GARYUU! PLAN B!" Lazare looked alert. He didn't think much about the animal since it was, well, an _animal…_but apparently not. He faced the kangaroo, which had a similar boxing stance as his partner, plus a tail. He had more spring to his legs, and was shooting towards Lazare before he could blink. A boxing gloved paw hit him squarely in the face. He grunted and experimentally moved his jaw. He winced and glowered. Who ever knew that a kangaroo can punch so hard?

_Is this Plan B? To make me fight against an animal as its owner rests comfortably and regains his strength? _Garyuu came at him again and swung a well placed punch at him. He used the staff to block it. His eyes widened when he realised that he left himself wide open. The feet came up and kicked him _hard, _while the tail supported the animal. Lazare felt the now familiar sensation of flying like a bird. Then his flight was stopped by something else and was flung back at the kangaroo, which was standing sideways, one leg ready for a second kick. _"SUNSHINE COUNTER!" _Lazare managed to twist his body to see what happened. Ryohei was behind him, glowing like a sun in the darkness. Desperately, he activated his Dying Will flames and tried to keep the damage to a minimum. But, with the combination of injuries Ryohei gave him, adding Garyuu's, his minimum damage simply managed to keep him from dying. Ryohei walked over to him with a grim smile.

"That was an _extreme _fight!" He said. He and Garyuu exchanged a fist bump. Lazre glared at them with hatred. How was he defeated by a teenager and his pet?

"How?" His voice croaked. He was beaten so easily. And he was sure that it wasn't even full strength. "Why are you still so strong after that fight we had? And…Plan…B. What the heck is that?"

"Eh?" Ryohei said. "I recharged myself!" He exclaimed. "Doesn't everyone do that?" He didn't mention that it was from Garyuu. It happened in the two seconds Lazare was down. Garyuu, after touching Ryohei's arm, had shot him with two short blasts, so close to Ryohei's body that Lazare didn't see while his vision was clearing up from the hit to his head. "And about Plan B…there is no Plan B!" He yelled in excitement. "Master Pao Pao taught me that it is _extremely _useful to trick your enemies thinking you actually have a plan sometimes!"

_Who the hell is Master Pao Pao? _He thought disdainfully. It was all a ruse to keep his attention from the youth. Then his eyes hardened. He wasn't going to ask to live. This was brought upon him by his own foolishness, underestimating an opponent. He had forgotten that this boy was also the Vongola Sun Guardian. He noticed that Ryohei was kneeling beside him now.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, his French accent coming back into his speech. Ryohei grunted a confused grunt.

"I accidentally cut you. You'll extremely bleed to death if I don't do something." Lazare looked down and saw that Ryohei held a pointy looking thing against his skin. His eyes widened in alarm and he yelped. It was a bit like Tsuna's reaction when he first saw it…

"Get that blasted thing away from me!"

"Calm down, Lazare!" Ryohei said. Garyuu had a firm grip on Lazare's shoulders, holding him down. Ryohei showed Lazare the healing tool. "This will heal you TO THE EXTREME!" He placed it against the wound and Lazare hissed at him but stopped when he felt the wound close up. He blinked.

"Why are you saving me? I'll just go after you again." Ryohei have him a sad smile.

"I have some bad news for you…when we were fighting, and when Lambo number two shocked us…you suffered some extreme damage! I'm not sure what happened, but your hands will be weak! Something to do with the immune system! It's acting up!" Lazare stared at him.

"You mean the…nervous…system…?" He asked. Ryohei cocked his head.

"I THINK THAT'S RIGHT!" He yelled. Lazare winced. He tried moving his hands. They were numb, but when he tried to make a fist, his hand began to shake at the effort. He stayed there in shock, long after Ryohei and Garyuu left, refusing to believe that he can't fight again.

_Does this mean I need a desk job? _He wondered. _But…the Luna Family _has _no desk job…they—they won't need me anymore…_

POOF! Ryohei stopped and stared at the stop he was approaching. _Those pink clouds look extremely familiar! _He thought. It blew away, revealing a sleeping Lambo. Ryohei raised both eyebrows in confusion, but he shrugs it off carelessly.

"Oi, Lambo! You just missed the most EXTREME FIGHT EVER!" Lambo woke with a start and began crying at the unfamiliar scenery. He only stopped his bawling when Ryohei picked him up, trying to find the source of the crying.

"You okay?" He asked in his rough, caring voice. Lambo sniffed and nodded. Then he screamed.

"LAWN-HEAD! I WANT GUMMY BEARS!" He screamed. Ryohei laughed.

"YOSH! LET'S GO FIND SOME FOOD AFTER WE HELP SAWADA!" He placed Lambo on his shoulders and began jogging, Garyuu already back inside its resting place.

"GAAAAAA! STOOOP! I WANT TO EAT _NOW!" _

Of course, Ryohei didn't appear to hear him.

* * *

><p>Yamamoto winced away from the unknown blade that cut into his arm. <em>Ahaha…Shoot. I think I should get senpai to heal me after this is done…I have a baseball match coming up… <em>he thought painfully. He attacked again but it was blocked by the scythe. He stared into its mesmerising pattern when it became visible. His eyes glazed over. Basil jumped in.

"Yamamoto-dono! Are you alright!" He asked as he deflected a blow to the head. Array scowled and purple mist surrounded Basil. His movements slowed down until it came to a total stop. He too, stood motionless in front of Array, who at the moment looked quite pleased with himself. He observed the two enemies. The swordsman took a longer time than he thought it would to hypnotise him. The blond haired boy was much easier. He was wondering what he should do with them when something _clunked _at his feet. He looked down and saw a small bomb. He jumped back a step and waited for the smoke to clear. He could hear their companion yelling. He shook his head slyly. That's not going to wake them up.

"Oi! Baseball-nut! Basil! What the hell are you two just standing there for?" Gokudera yelled at them as he stood between them and the enemy. He had dynamites in his hands and the igniter in his mouth.

"You interrupted my thinking," Array said, slightly offended. "And darn it. Where the hell is Lark?"

"You mean the other underboss?" Gokudera grinned. He thrust a thumb behind him. A massive explosion which threw debris everywhere erupted. "That he-she is in the middle of that mess." Array blinked.

"You what?" He asked. Gokudera scoffed.

"Every single member of your family is stupid beyond the pits of hell...Listen up." He made a dramatic pause before continuing. "Never mess with the Vongola."

"Oh yeah?" Array growled, angry that his brother was killed by a teenager. He threw his scythe at Gokudera who swore. He couldn't dodge because Yamamoto or Basil will be hit. He got his Sistema CAI activated just in time. His teeth rattled at the impact, but they were safe for the time being.

"Hayato," Bianchi's voice said. He looked up and scowled.

"What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be protecting Juudaime!" He asked. She ignored his question and walked between Array and her little brother. She approached him.

"O-Oi! What are you going? It's dangerous! Aneki!" He exclaimed when she pulled out a purple cake, just for him…

"_Did you need something, Hayato? I'm busy at the moment," _someone said through his intercom. He instantly stopped panicking.

"A-Aneki?" He asked cautiously.

"_What?" _She asked calmly.

"Tch! Stupid illusionists," Gokudera muttered. "Forget it. Make sure you protect Juudaime!" He looked back at the illusion. He tossed a bomb into it to disperse it. The illusion blew up as if it was real, but he knew better than that.

"You are so coldblooded," Array cooed with no emotion. "Killing your own sister like that." Gokudera raised an eyebrow.

"Stupid asshole. You can't fool me with those illusions." _Damn…he almost got me there, _he thought. _Where the heck is that pineapple when you need him? I better call for backup._

Then Array disappeared. Even when focusing all his concentration on him, Gokudera could not sense the man anywhere. He swore.

* * *

><p>Mukuro's body shook as he sneezed. He was currently playing with thirty odd people in his world of illusions.<p>

"Oya? Someone's talking about me behind my back," he said. "It isn't good to make illusionists sneeze in the middle of action. But it doesn't affect me, of course. I'll make him pay," he decided and tossed the enemies into another world, one that no therapist can heal them from. He made a black hole and jumped back into his own world and shut the hole snugly. He turned and saw more coming his way.

"Kufufu. They never stop coming, do they? Sawada Tsunayoshi…you prove to be an interesting source of entertainment, once again…" he waited for the enemy to come closer before striking. As one third of them fell, he heard smacks and groans coming from the other side of the enemy. He wondered curiously at who it might be, but had a good guess. He half heartedly whacked the man's back but was blocked with a tonfa. The Disciplinary Committee chairman glared at him and used the other tonfa to knock out another man who tried to sneak up on him. Mukuro pulled his trident backwards and its butt hit the stomach of another to-be assaulter.

"I'll bite you to death," Hibari threatened.

"Kufufu. It's your own fault you couldn't look after your own kill," Mukuro retorted as the two of them bloodied their weapons. Hibari tried to hit Mukuro but he simply vanished, the tonfa instead biting into the face of an attacker. Hibari pulled his tonfa away and looked for the mist user. He found him a few metres away, having fun maiming the enemy. Hibari narrowed his eyes at the sly smile playing on his face, looking like a small boy who was jealous that someone else was having all the fun. He tapped his tonfas and a chain came out of each. At the end was a spike.

_I'll bite you all to death," _he hissed, his murderous aura emitting from his body like light would sun. "And then I can bit that annoying herbivore to death," he said, meaning Mukuro, who knew the underlined meaning. He glared at the school prefect and sent an illusion of cherry blossoms his way. Hibari glowered hatefully at the petals which were slowly floating down, landing on his head and shoulders. Hibird, with the pompadour, landed snugly on his master's head, which was perfectly balanced even when fighting. It helped Hibari remove most of the petals and chirped a cheerful note.

"I'll deal with you later," Mukuro's voice promised a long and painful torture.

"Hn. I'll bite you to death." He fractured the skull of the last opponent standing and faced Mukuro. Mukuro chuckled and their weapons clashed against each other in a heartbeat.

* * *

><p>Chrome was beside Yamamoto the moment she ended the call Gokudera sent her way.<p>

"Yamamoto-kun…" Chrome poked his cheek feebly. Getting no response, she grimaced and turned her head to Array who was staring at her curiously.

"Little miss illusionist," he said. "You are too young to be playing mafia games." She frowned at him.

"The mafia is not a game," she said carefully, as if he was Yamamoto. Array's eyebrows snapped together in annoyance.

"Go home, girl. This is no place or time for a girl like you."

"Like me?" She cocked her head, wanting him to clarify what "a girl like you" meant. This was _not _something she would usually do, but adrenaline was still coursing through her body and it made her giddy. She has never felt this way before. Array sighed impatiently.

"Release my friends," Chrome said softly.

"No." Chrome lifted her diamond decorated staff.

"Then I will have to force you to." Array leaned against his weapon and said, "I don't fight against wimpy girls." Chrome didn't react to this, being used to insults for her whole life and all—she simply tapped the staff against the ground and dispelled the strong illusion placed on the boys with little difficulty. Array stood straight, staring at her in shock, no longer carefree.

Being freed from the illusion which kept them in place, they fell to the ground.

"Eh? Wasn't I eating sushi in pop's restaurant?" Yamamoto laughed. Basil blinked.

"Lal-dono…she was training me again after she noticed I was out of practice…" He shivered and was glad it was just a dream. Or, an illusion in this case, he quickly noted. Basil stood up with his blade at the ready.

"Chrome-dono! What happened? Are you alright?" Yamamoto became alert and put on a serious face as he stood to stand beside Chrome's other side. She nodded at them.

"You were placed under an illusion spell."

"Thanks for helping us," Yamamoto said gratefully. He had his sword ready to attack. Before he could though, Chrome stopped him.

"He is a very good illusionist. Let me try to fight him," she said. Yamamoto and Basil exchanged a worried glance. Chrome gave them a puppy eyed face. Yamamoto was still hesitant.

"But Chrome…"

"Get out of the way," Array said to the teens. "I'll finish the two of you off… _after _I kill this girl." _She's good, _Array thought. _I have underestimated someone again. She defeated one of my best illusions. No! I can't let that happen again! But if she could do that, she might put me under a spell. If I start believing it, I will no doubt lose this battle and be killed. I have to strike first._

He swiped the scythe and the earth rumbled. Yamamoto and Basil became unbalanced. Chrome stood steadily.

"An earthquake?" Yamamoto questioned. "Or is this an illusion?"

"It's an illusion," Chrome announced. "This type of illusion might have worked on me a few months ago, but not now." She twirled the staff in a fast clockwise spin and slammed it into the dirt. The vibration stopped. She and Array were inside her illusion, a purple and blue world of swirls. Array cocked a brow.

"What's this—an amusement park?" He turned to Chrome, who was not standing where she usually did. Her voice came from everywhere in an echo.

"Yes…yes…yes…_yes…s…" _Her voice said. He spun carefully in a three sixty. "You can say as such, but it won't be as amusing for you…you…_you…u…" _He snorted.

"Get real. This is nothing." He suddenly felt butterflies in his stomach as he fell. He was dropping into a black void. This didn't bother him at all. What bothered him, though, was the fact that his _life was flashing before his eyes. _He saw himself and his brother as children. They received their first birthday presents. Their first training lessons…first love…the first time he killed someone…the wonderful sensation that came with it…and then…his mother. A cold, white, lifeless body with dried blood surrounding her previously stainless white dress…and the feelings he felt when he tried to wake her up even though he knew she was dead.

"_She will never come back," _Chrome said in monotone. She _hated _doing this to anyone, but it was necessary if she wanted to save her comrades. Mukuro taught her that she will have the advantage if she could look into other people's memories and dig out the most painful ones; their weaknesses. And manipulate them to make them worse, and more horrifying, until the mind cracked, bit by bit, until it shattered to a million pieces. She gulped and forced herself to carry on.

"Shut up!" Array growled.

"_She wouldn't have died if you listened to her," _Chrome said in a sad tone. _"But you didn't…" _a memory flashed by. He was seventeen. His mother trying to hold him back, away from the waiting men with a black car; the Luna Famiglia, waiting to escort him to the mansion, where he will stay and guard the boss. She was in tears, begging him to stay. He remembered that time well.

"No!" She screamed. "Don't go! Your brother has already left us! He's become a killer! Don't be like him!" She pleaded. He tried to pry her fingers off his arm.

"Mother," he said gently. "It will help our family. We need the money for support. We're doing this for you. Don't you want to live happy, with not a care in the world?" She was shaking her head.

"I don't want you to become a part of the mafia! No good comes from it!"

"Mother, don't worry," he had said soothingly. "I will be back soon. I promise."

"_Don't come back at all if you go," she hissed and her eyes turned cold. _Array jolted. His mother's eyes were beautiful and filled with love, not a drop of hatred in them. What was this he was seeing?

"Mother…?"

"_Don't ever come back!" She let go of his arm and pushed him out the door, throwing things at him as he did it. As they passed the kitchen, she grabbed a knife and began to swing it crazily at her son, daring him to come any closer to him. _

This wasn't what happened! Array watched in disbelief. He had convinced his mother, and she had let him go. She even gave him a freshly baked pie in case he got hungry during the long ride! He watched in horror as she forced him out the house, stabbing at her youngest son. And even worse, he saw himself grab the wrist that held the knife.

"NO!" He screamed as he knew what would happen. "THIS IS AN ILLUSION! A GODAMN ILLUSION! IT'S NOT REAL! COME OUT IN THE OPEN, _GIRL! _FIGHT ME LIKE A TRUE MAFIOSO!" He yelled and swung his blade. He made himself a floor and his descent faltered. He saw the images beginning to go out of focus.

Chrome shook her head and blinked her eye free of tears.

"_I am simply showing you the memories that you sealed away. They were so painful you had them hidden away by your brother, Lark. You didn't want to remember what truly happened the day you left your childhood home."_

He had started to fall again after he listened to the girl's words.

'Damn! How the hell are you doing this! Only a few people can do this sort of illusion!" He growled. _Even I can't! Not yet, at least._

The memories started to flow into his mind, so quick and precise, that it seemed they were always there…just…sealed away…and is only now returning to their rightful places in his mind…answering questions he always wondered about he never had answers for…why the pie was apple, and not blueberry? He hated apples, and his mother had said it was just for him…she said it was fresh so why was it stale? She wrapped it in a handkerchief when she knew he liked to just hold what he eats…why? Why? Why?

_He grabbed hold of his mother's hand and stared into hers._

"_Mother…" She glared at him with bloodshot eyes._

"_I am not your mother!" She spat out and tried to kill him. Being the younger and more experienced of the two, he swiftly disarmed her. _Array closed his eyes, trying to make the images disappear. They kept coming.

_He took the knife and sliced her neck. Her expression as she died told him that she will haunt him for life. She will never forgive him for doing this to her…wasting her love on a coldblooded, ruthless killer…He should have never asked to go to the market that day. If he didn't he wouldn't have seen the Luna Family in action…if he didn't he wouldn't have had the crazy dream to join them…those assassin…she blamed him for being such a cute child. She played along with his declarations of joining the mafia…he should never have done so many things…should have never went to buy his first knife which he killed a dog with…shouldn't have looked so innocent when the villagers asked him whether it was he who killed the dog…so many things…_

_He hated seeing those eyes. Those eyes which used to support his every wish and demand. He stabbed her in the heart and stomach. The eyes continued to stare at him as she fell to the floor, the eyes losing its shine. He dropped the knife, bloodied. He looked at his hands. They weren't shaking. But his heart throbbed painfully. He had just killed his own mother. His one and only mother…the mother that he shared his worries with…the one who was always there to comfort him when he woke in the middle of the night from a bad dream…the one who picked him up whenever he fell…the one who loved him…he backed away from the body…it was in the middle of the night and no one was outside despite the ruckus they had caused. No one had seen the murder._

"_Klark," a man approached him cautiously. Array turned his head. The man saw tears running down the cheeks but said nothing. The eyes weren't filled with sorrow. They were filled with a new lust._

"_That's not my name anymore," he said. "Call me Array." The man nodded slowly._

"_Mister Array, we have to get going. It is past the time we should have left." Array nodded. He gave his dead mother one last look and headed for the car. As they drove off, he began to think. He was feeling many different things at the moment. One was excitement. Two, was sorrow. What was he to do now? He couldn't live with the fact that he killed his own mother. But she was also his first human kill. That was important in the Luna Famiglia. He leaned his head against the headrest. His cell phone rang. He picked it up and said nothing._

"_Klark?" Lark said. "Where are you? You should have passed the first checkpoint, but they said you still haven't appeared." Array lifted at his redden hands._

"_Array," he said._

"_Huh?" Lark asked in confusion._

"_My name is Array. Klark is gone."_

"…_O…kay…?" Lark said._

"_Lark…" he croaked. His voice was dry. He cleared it. "Lark, I killed mother." The other side of the phone was met with silence._

"_Lark…?"_

"_No you didn't," his older brother said._

"_What?" Array said. "No, you don't understand. I—killed—her. She's not coming back._

"_You didn't kill her, Array," Lark said seriously. "Just come see me when you arrive. Don't think about that stupid dream you just had."_

"_Dream?" Array whispered. If it was a dream, why were his hands stained with blood?_

"_Don't worry about a single thing, little brother. All will be well. Sleep. You need it." Lark hung up, leaving his brother feeling lost in the world._

"_You brother erased your memories and replaced them with fake ones," _Chrome echoed. Array smacked his forehead, trying to get out of the illusion. He realised that tears were present. He snarled.

"Get out of my mind." He thrust the scythe upwards and shot out flames in large amounts. Chrome, in the air, nearly choked. She held herself together, ignoring the flames.

"_You killed your own mother," _she said. _"When you found her in the house the next day, what was she holding?" _Array saw a piece of cloth in her hand. It was a grey piece of cloth. Array remembered that night, when he went down to sup with his brother, his sleeve was torn. He thought that it must have been ripped when he was nervously tugging at it when he waited for his meeting with the boss.

"No," he whispered. "You're playing with my mind…stop it…"

"_I'm not playing with your mind," _she said as they reached the end of the line; the black hole drew nearer but Array didn't seem to notice. He fell in without a sound. Chrome released the illusion and collapsed on the wet floor. Rain hit her face like tiny droplets of ice. Yamamoto and Basil rushed towards her.

"What happened? You and Array were just standing there for a full hour!" Yamamoto exclaimed. She blinked weakly at him. Her eye was filled with tears running nonstop. Then her gaze shifted to Array who was on the ground. They heard him muttering.

"What happened?" Basil asked. Chrome shook her head. They didn't need to know about the skills she learned from Mukuro…Mukuro, the one who has gone through hell and has devised many different forms of punishment for many different people. That was just one of them.

"He…won't be bothering us again."

"What did you do to him?" A voice asked them coldly. They turned to see a man who had features just like Array, except that none of them could decide whether he was male, or female…

"His mind is broken," Chrome said. "He won't come back." Lark glared at them shaking uncontrollably.

"He also thinks you're dead," she whispered, only now realising the full extent of the damage that would soon happen. She stared carefully and fearfully at the brother. One thing she had learned, was what is Array ever learned that his brother was dead, he would lose his mind. Adding Chrome's touch, he would be even madder than Bel when he sees his own blood.

_Oh, no. _And…his brother was suicidal…this was _not _good.

"I'll kill you all for that," Lark said.

_I've heard that an awful lot of times tonight, _Yamamoto thought. He carried Chrome bridal style. Basil stood in front of them, ready to strike.

"I'll definitely ruin your lives forever," Lark said. "Die with me."

_That, _they weren't expecting. They finally thought to look around. Bombs were placed everywhere. They would go off in about ten seconds. Their eyes trailed to the core. Yamamoto froze. If those bombs went off, they would be buried alive.

"Run?" He suggested.

"Run," Basil and Chrome weakly confirmed. And so they did. As they were about to clear the exploding building, the shockwave hit and they fell. Chrome sprawled on the ground, trying to get up. They stared in horror at the tumbling bricks.

* * *

><p>"Y-You!" Someone on the Luna's side exclaimed. "What are you doing? You're attacking the wrong side!"<p>

Jacques grimaced and knocked the man out. He looked at Tsuna, who landed on a tall stack of crates, looking at him questioningly. As a reply, he ripped off the Luna badge on his left arm. He nodded to his boss. Tsuna paused for a moment before nodding back. He mouthed, "Don't kill them." Iota was just about to do that but Jacques stopped him. He gave Vongola the Tenth a thumbs up and coninuted his fight. Tsuna hesitated for a moment before joining in the mess. And then he winced painfully.


	13. Family is Everything!

**Chapter Thirteen**

_I thought that I should take the time I have to write this,_

Kenshin typed into his smart-phone. He paused and looked at the dim screen. He continued to tap his fingers with quick efficiency.

_The fighting has started and many people have been killed or are unable to fight. I have overheard that this is just a small part of a much bigger plan, taking place in Italy._

He continued to type everything he discovered so far and sighed.

_But there seems to be a reason for this attack on the tenth generation of the Vongola Famiglia. My detective-self is itching to find out, and so I will. Masahiro has gone back to keep a lookout on the Decimo's house and it appears that something has happened. _

He went on to describe everything the agent has told him, then about the sudden attack which had broken up their connection.

_I realise that I might die in a crossfire tonight so consider this the last report I will send out._

He sent the note to his e-mail. If he doesn't report back to the police headquarters within a week on his usual date, they will automatically think that something has happened to him. They also know that he would leave them a message of some sort and they will look into his e-mail. He turned off the phone and put it into a pocket.

_Time to get myself killed, _he thought sourly. _Although I really hope it won't happen…_

* * *

><p>Tsuna knocked out a man and moved between two buildings to take a breather. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the brick wall he was leaning on.<p>

"…Boss, are you alright?" Jacques asked him. Tsuna turned his head.

"…Jaques... Please don't call me boss," he said calmly. The said person shook his head.

"No can do, Boss. You're my boss, so I'm calling you Boss." Tsuna frowned.

"Call me Tsuna. I hate it when people call me boss," he muttered. Jacques shrugged and grinned.

"Well I'm not changing." Tsuna sighed and straightened. He looked up into the sky and let the rain soak his head to clear it.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Tsuna said. "Thanks for joining us. Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes, I am very sure," he said determinedly. Tsuna nodded and looked him in the eye.

"I'm sorry for making you do this."

"No pressure. This was our choice; you didn't force anything upon us," he replied, thinking that Tsuna meant betraying his old family for a better one. He had heard stories that the Vongola used to be more majestic when it was a vigilant group, working to help the citizens. He wished that _that _was the Vongola he was joining. And he had a feeling this young man can make that happen.

Tsuna cocked his head. He had a bad feeling about what would happen tonight…something that told him it won't end well. He put a hand on Jacques' shoulder. It was awkward, since the man was much taller.

"If... If I ever become boss, I will try my best to change the way of the Vongola back to its original path. That is what you also wish for, yes?" Jacques looked startled as the brunet read him like an open book. Tsuna took in a quavering breath. "It's not that I'm not grateful towards you and your friends for joining us…I'm just…I'm worried that you might have joined the Vongola for nothing." Jacques' confused expression was the last thing Tsuna saw before he flew in the air. He clenched his fists as he examined the field. Gokudera, Bianchi, and Reborn were with him. He was actually shocked to see the Arcobaleno fighting, since he had always said that he'll never fight his students' battles. Why start now? Was this not his battle?

Reborn seemed to sense his pupil's thoughts. _This is not only _your_ battle, Dame-Tsuna, _he thought. _This battle will determine the outcome of the entire Vongola._

_CRASH! _Something to his right side, further down, collapsed.

"_CRASH!" _Tsuna stiffened.

"Guys?" He said into the headphone. "What happened?" When he heard nothing, he began to worry.

"_Shhii…T-Tsuna…" _Yamamoto muttered.

"Yamamoto! What happened?" He was so concentrated on the message he was almost hit by a special bullet. If it weren't for the bad shot, he would have been dead. He didn't notice that Reborn also killed the man who dared fire at the Vongola Boss in training—in training, but still, a Vongola Boss.

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna yells. "Are you okay?"

"_Tsuna…hah…we're…we're…fine…_"

"What happened? I heard a big crash like a building falling down—" Tsuna sucked in a breath. "That _did not _really happen… Yamamoto! Don't worry. I'll be with you in a second!"

"_Don't!"_ Yamamoto's sharp voice said.

"What are you talking about? You might get crushed!"

"_B-Boss…"_ Chrome's weak voice said_. "Concentrate on your battle…Mukuro-sama or someone else will help us. Don't waste your energy." _

"Chrome…"

"_Heheh…"_ Yamamoto laughs softly and groans slightly. "_Don't worry about us, Tsuna. Someone will definitely come save us. The unexpected people always arrive at the most unexpected time, don't you agree?" _Tsuna was about to question what he meant. He already half way to the site when something below him exploded. He maneuvered away from it with the hard flames and looked to see what caused it. The warehouse beneath him had a gigantic hole in the roof. As the smoke cleared, Tsuna's bad feeling came back. Something popped and whizzed towards him. He instantly moved away from the…what was it?

"Tsuna get away from that!" Bianchi shouted. She, Reborn, and Gokudera were making their way towards him on Gokudera's Sistema CAI transport. **[Remember the OP Theme Song for Choice? Funny Sunny Days?]**

"It's poisonous! Don't smell it!" The boss quickly flies away as the dynamite stick explodes and green smoke comes out of it.

"What is that?" he asked Bianchi, who was a poisons expert.

"It's a chemical formula made by mixing solutions together!" Gokudera replied after Bianchi told him the name of it. "Juudaime! No matter what, you mustn't breathe it in!" Tsuna nodded and moved further away from it all the while looking for its source.

"Not bad, Vongola Decimo," a woman's voice said clearly. Tsuna narrowed his eyes as he tries to find the person speaking. He lands on the ground and Gokudera appears at his right side almost instantly.

"Juudaime." He had his dynamites ready.

"Who are you?" Tsuna asks when a figure appears. It was still two hours before dawn. Reborn pressed a button and the lights around them turned on with a BOOM. They were surrounded by warehouses, which had lamp posts outside which looked fairly new—thanks to someone.

There stood Tamiko Mio, clad in black, hair soaked from the rain, with her squad of ten men. They were all armed with weapons.

"Che. She's finally shown herself. It's about time." Tamiko grins at this with a cool look in her eyes, as if she was waiting for this. Tsuna's heart fell as this confirmed his worse fears.

"Where's your boss?" Tsuna asks. Her smile falters.

"_I can kill you on my own," _she says in Italian. Tsuna stares at her blankly for a moment before his brain processed what she had said.

"Dame-Tsuna, I told you to practice your Italian," Reborn scolds.

"I…do," he replies. When Reborn sent a glare his way, Tsuna switches the language he was using.

"_I want to see just who in the world would want to send his own men to their deaths just to defeat a single person."_ Obviously, he would never kill them, but if the Luna Family was attacking a coldblooded crime famiglia, there will be bodies piling up by now. Tamiko cocked a brow in something like amusement.

"_And how do you know if our boss is a man? It can be a woman. You never know."_

"Why you! Shut up!" Gokudera growled and showed her his fist. Something rang in Tsuna's brain when she said this. He was confused. The way how she said it, it seemed as if… He shook his head inwardly. She was probably just playing with his mind.

"Tsuna, you have to concentrate!" Reborn says. Tsuna looks at the hitman and back at the enemy. His tutor was right: he had to defeat them quickly. In that quick moment, Reborn noticed that there was something wrong with his student. His face flushed with red as if he had either suffered from something really embarrassing recently—which, Reborn was sure, hasn't happened—or someone like Lal continuously slapped at his face—which _also _hasn't happened recently, or, he was coming down with a fever. Reborn let his fedora hide his expression of concern for his student. No one else seemed to notice, but Gokudera thought there was something wrong with Reborn's actions. He began to pay closer attention to his precious boss.

"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna murmurs.

"Juudaime?"

"Can you go find Yamamoto and Chrome? They're…stuck underneath a collapsed building somewhere. As you can see, I will be busy here." Gokudera sucks in a breath.

_That stupid base-ball freak, _he thinks. _He's making Juudaime worried when I already told him _not _to. And I'm going to personally beat him up for making me do this…again…_

"Juudaime, I'm sorry, but I'm staying here. I am truly and terribly sorry that I have to disobey your order again!" He bows deeply to a surprised Tsuna.

"But Yamamoto and Chrome…"

"They are also your Guardians, Juudaime! Please—believe in them!" He said through gritted teeth. "And I'm betting someone we don't expect to come will save them. That always happens." Tsuna lets out a sigh when he hears Yamamoto's words repeated again, this time from Gokudera. _My Hyper Intuition is telling me that they will be okay, but…I'm still worried._

"_If you two are finished your little chit chat, I would like to kill you now." _Tsuna and Gokudera get ready to fight. But Tsuna just _had to _ask.

"Can you tell us why your family is targeting mine?" For a moment, it looked like Tamiko wasn't about to say anything. After all, why would she reveal her family's secrets? She smirks. _They're all going to die anyways._

"_There is a prophecy that Secondo received during his reign. Our family is small, but powerful. We don't have the status we should have in the mafia for being such a strong family, so we have stayed small. The prophecy said that we will rise in the mafia world if we defeated Vongola the Tenth and his guardians. Of course, there was no way that could have happened in the second generation, so we had to wait…we waited…until now…now is the time to attack. This is what kept us together for ten generations. Without this thought in our minds, we would have soon ceased to exist."_

Tsuna thought about this, and then what Jacques had told him.

"_But do we really have to fight for that dream to come true?" _Tsuna put that question out there on purpose, trying to throw the woman off.

"_Of course!" _She snarled, although her men seemed surprised by the question. This, Tsuna noticed.

"_Don't you all have people you love and care for?" _He asks loudly. The men shifted. Mio glared at the Vongola Boss.

* * *

><p>AN: Just pretend that Tsuna rants off one of those amazing speeches that make people guilty because they kill people, while they themselves have a family they care for, just like Tsuna. I can't convince people for the life of me. Sorry! And I think you're getting tired of reading italics?

* * *

><p>Reborn smirked. His student said exactly what needed to be said to make these assassins think again.<p>

The men look at each other uncomfortably and then at their leader. Tamiko snapped at them in accented Japanese, "What are you waiting for? Attack! If you don't, they'll kill us all!"

"I would do no such thing," Tsuna said as she charged at him. "Not when your family believes in a false prophecy." Tamiko's eyes widen slightly but return back to their cold gaze a moment later.

"It is better this way. We would never be able to accept the true outcome of the prophecy!" She says and stabs at Tsuna who jumps away.

"Mio!" A man calls. It was the person from before. He had brought his own squad, plus another, which made the brunet swear. This might be too much for Gokudera and Bianchi to handle. Then he heard a BANG as the man was shot. Tsuna winced. Scratch that—nothing will happen as long as Reborn's around. But…that man….

"_Dame-Tsuna, focus on your own fight and stop fretting. I didn't kill him…yet. I still need him for questioning. He seems to have strong ties with the family," _Reborn's voice came from the headphones. Tsuna couldn't help but smile slightly.

He and the woman fought some more, although she wasn't using her full power.

_She's holding back, _he thought. _Shoot. _Tamiko had pulled out a gun with a green crescent moon. She cocked the gun and fired. Tsuna instantly dodged the blow but hit the wall. He sucks in a breath and fell. He stood back up and raised his hands, one in front and one behind, in the X-Burner pose. He fired a short one which was countered by Tamiko, just barely. Then she continued to fire as he continued to dodge. This continued as Tsuna predicts her next movements. _She isn't as tough as I thought, _Tsuna thought with surprise. Did training with Reborn really do this to him? He was starting to appreciate the hitman but knew that it would only last until the next time he sadistic tutor drags him off to another training session.

They stand waiting for the other to attack. Suddenly, both of them notice another person. She shoots and a shout is voiced. Tsuna's eyes widen. Kenshin!

_I should have known he'd stick around! _Tsuna cursed himself. He flies to the detective, not caring anymore.

"Are you alright?" He asked anxiously. Kenshin groans and sits up. Tsuna's relieved when he sees that he wasn't hit.

"That almost got me," he coughed.

"Who's this?" Tamiko says. Tsuna stands protectively in front of Kenshin.

"He's a detective," Reborn tells her. She laughs.

"Are you serious? The boss is protecting a _detective _who is better off dead so he can't tell anyone what he saw?"

Tsuna gritted his teeth.

"I'm going to protect him no matter what." Kenshin looks at him. _He's protecting me…_

"I'd like to see you try." She fires another shot. Tsuna quickly grabs Kenshin's arm and runs away.

"Kenshin-san! I want you to stay away from danger! Tsuna stops them and counters a bullet by shooting an X-Cannon at the bullet. Kenshin stares at him. _Whoa…_

"Don't worry, Kenshin-san." He couldn't see the brunet's face but he heard the conviction in the voice. "My friends and I will protect you with everything we've got." Tsuna left Kenshin in the care of Bianchi—which might have not been the best thing to do…but oh well. At least he knows that Kenshin won't be killed.

He found the shortest route and landed behind her, ready to knock her out. She tripped his legs and they tumbled. Tsuna kicks the gun far away as they both struggle to gain the upper-hand.

"BOSS!" Tamiko turns her head.

"Jacques! SHOOT HIM!" She orders. Tsuna pays no attention and thinks of the quickest way to knock her out.

Jacques pauses in mid run, his team of men right behind him.

"Um," he said awkwardly. He actually had no idea on how to break it to her, that he quite the Luna Family…and that the boss he was calling for…was Tsuna…?

"What are you waiting for?" She demanded. "I'm ordering you to shoot him! Listen to your superior!"

"You're em…not our superior anymore…" Iota says slowly as if speaking to a five year old child.

"What do you mean?"

"We ah…how do I put this in the simplest terms?" Iota scratched his head. Kyle sighed.

"We deserted? Betrayed? Quit? Resign?" He listed a few words which could describe the situation in one word. Iota grins.

"Thanks! My Japanese vocabulary didn't extend that far yet."

"You _what?" _Tamiko says dangerously. "You betrayed the Luna Family to join the Vongola?" She gives Tsuna a hateful glare.

"Ah, you can say that. We've decided that we need a change in profession," Iota says. Kyle scoffs. "What? You know that I always wanted to be a chef!" Iota defends his dream job. Kyle rolls his eyes. Jacques sweatdrops and aims the gun at his ex-boss. The look in Tsuna's eyes tells him again, to not kill. Jacques' frown deepens. Doesn't he know that if Tamiko does not die, he will be hunted for life?

The woman took this chance to get up but was quickly knocked over by Tsuna who kicked her in the middle. He winced when she crashed through a weak wall, but steadied himself when he remembered what she had in her left hand: a knife that would have torn his guts out if he was a second too late. She groans quietly and stands back up. Tsuna hears a barely audible click and moves away as she shot another green blast of flames at his direction. Apparently, she had multiple guns on her. Then he went in to perform Zero Point Breakthrough: First's Edition. She countered by grabbing hold of his wrists. She looked into his eyes and was surprised to see brown ones instead of orange.

"I don't want to fight you," Tsuna says. "Please, can't we talk this through? You're hurting your family!" Tamiko smirks.

"Only a naïve little boy like you would think that family is an important thing." She ignored his plea and tried to twist her fingers so that they could point the gun at him. Tsuna's eyes met the barrel as his mind catches up to what she said.

"Family isn't an _important thing_," he agrees slowly, lowering his eyes.

"Juudaime!" Gokudera exclaims when he sees his boss held at gun point. Tsuna's gloves steam as he tries to touch her skin to freeze it. Tamiko smiles like a fox when he fails. Desperately, he closes his eyes and knits his eyebrows.

"My family…is _everything!" _

Something within him glows strongly, giving him the power he needed.

"Aarrggg!" Tsuna growls as he—he doesn't know what he's doing. He was trying to force his flames out, but he was using the wrong version of the gloves. He applies pressure and shouts a quick prayer to his ancestors and continues to grit his teeth as his hands shake from the effort. He hears the trigger slowly being pulled back and he tries once more.

"ARRRRGG..GH!" He screams.

WHOOOF! SHIK-SHIK-_CLING_-THUMP-THUMP!

He hears the familiar crystal sounds of the ice and a gasp. He snaps his eyes open and could not believe it. Yes, his hands were still locked in Tamiko's grip, and yes, his gloves were not touching skin, but no, Tamiko had not escaped with zero injuries. On her were small but deadly, long shards of ice shaped like diamonds, produced from Primo's gloves. Blood oozed from the four wounds on her shoulders. Tsuna stumbled away from her when she let go. He examined the gloves. _What the—? Is this…a new technique?_

Reborn smirks from above as he shoots down two more enemies.

Tsuna's Hyper Intuition was onto something but Tamiko interrupted his thoughts from finishing.

"Why you…you've been hiding that attack all along!"

"What…?" Tsuna mutters. Tamiko levels the gun and Tsuna stands still, letting his Inuition process what had just taken place. Tamiko cocked her head when she realised that he wasn't moving. She frowns, wondering if there was a trick.

Tsuna's head was down with his eyes closed as he thought.

_Hm… _he puts a leg back and has his side facing Tamiko instead. His head was still down. His fingers twitched as he thought of this brand new technique.

Tamiko was beginning to feel ignored, and she didn't like that one bit. Jacques and his group was standing to the side, staring. None of the enemy in this part of the battle knew of their betrayal yet, so they were spared from the fighting. She pulled the trigger, positive that the boy who was deep in his thoughts would have no time to dodge. Suddenly, Tsuna's headphones let out a piercing sound that everyone heard. He ignores it. The bullet sailed through the air and Tsuna's head comes up to look directly at the bullet calmly. His brown eyes looked calculative when he raised his left hand. Shards of ice shoot out of it quickly, as if they were flames. Once it touched the green flames, the shards expanded and bound together to make a large wall which pushed through the green blast, destroying it in the process. Random shards flew away. Some cut into Tamiko's arms and neck as they passed her shocked form, and the largest of all fell just one foot away from her. Tsuna lowers his arm and takes in several deep breaths.

"Zero Point Breakthrough…" Tsuna says, "Crystal Shards."

"Amazing…" Gokudera whispers, staring at him with admiration in his eyes. Tsuna was just as amazed at what he just did. Reborn tsked and shot a practice bullet at his student's head.

"OW!" Tsuna screams.

"Dame-Tsuna, if that didn't work you would have been killed. Don't do such reckless things, now that you're the Vongola heir." Tsuna rubbed his head and sweatdropped. _So he won't care if I wasn't the Vongola heir…?_

He looks at what he did and frowns. "I don't like that attack."

"Eh?" Gokudera said.

"It's too dangerous. I can't control how it hits the person. They just…stab in…I…don't like it."

"That's true," Reborn said. "Primo's Zero point BreakThrough was to seal Dying Will Flames to protect his friends. This Zero Point BreakThrough protects but also destroys.

"The important thing is that she's escaped. Tsuna, find her!" Tsuna turned back and gawped. The woman was gone! He sighs and runs to the spot she was standing at before. He closes his eyes and lets his Intuition guide him.

"Fight!" Someone from the Luna Family shouts. "Jacques' squad! What took you so long to come?"

"Sorry, sorry!" Iota salutes the apology. "But we switched sides!"

"What!" Iota fires at the man who spoke.

"If you don't understand my words, then I guess that shot just cleared your mind." The others gulp at the coldness.

"TRAITOR!" Someone else cries and shoots them. Gokudera decided to play the good guy and shield them with his circles.

"Thanks," Jacques said. Gokudera snorted and carried on his part of the fight.

"You better be loyal to the Vongola. If you do what you did to your old family to us, I won't hesitate to blow you up!"

"Y-Yeah…"

The brunet walks forward and turns right. He sees the rubble caused by Ryohei and hopes that they are alright. He's comforted when he hears Ryohei shout something along the lines of _EXTREME!_

He stops in front of a red warehouse and steps in cautiously. There was nothing inside except for a few broken pieces of metal lying around. Tsuna glances in all directions but sees nothing. He takes in a deep breath and forces himself into Hyper Mode.

"I know you're here. Show yourself."

"Not bad," Tamiko says from the shadows at the far corner.

"You're badly injured. Why don't you stop? I don't want to hurt you anymore."

"Yeah? Well I want to kill you all the same. Stop fighting and you will make my job easier." Tsuna bit his lip and got into his fighting position. He could tell that her blood was dripping, but she still fought. Her gun raised and a loud bang could be heard. Tsuna avoids the bullet by stepping to the side, trying to not waste any strength on unnecessary movements. He bent his knees and used flames to charge at her at lightning speed. He jumped and aims a kick but she blocked it with her gun. He twisted around and tried again. This time it hit her. She pulled the leg as she fell. She missed Tsuna's head by two inches and shot again. Tsuna froze the gun before she could use it. Swearing in her own language, she produced another gun as she fought.

_Her and her guns…_ Tsuna thought grimly. _I have to be more careful._

He used his new attack on her twice and one X-Burner. Tamiko was smiling all the while which gave Tsuna an uneasy feeling. He frowned as he fought her, throwing punches, kicks, and attack after attack. Both of them were worn out within the hour. They stood apart, panting.

_Where is the backup team? _Tamiko thought. _They should be here by now. I'm pretty sure I told someone to tell them to stop searching for the Vongola because we found them…why haven't they arrived yet?_

Little did she know that the backup she spoke of is surrendering to the Shimon Family at that very moment.

"If you're so sure you're going to win…" Tsuna said.

"Of course!"

"Swear that if _I _win, you will back away and not even _think _of attacking anyone ever again." Tamiko smirked.

"Fine. _I, _Eleventh Boss of the Luna Famiglia, swear upon my title, that I will not harm a single soul _if _I am defeated by Vongola the Tenth."

Tsuna sucks in a breath when he heard this. _So I was right…_

"You killed your own boss," Tsuna whispered. Tamiko shrugged.

"The man was an idiot. At least he was smart enough to tell me that the prophecy was a fake. He was about to back out from his plan, so I had to kill him."

"You…killed your boss…"

* * *

><p>A man dressed in black stopped in front of a pile of rubble. He sighed and tapped his sword to the ground, his long, white hair damp from the rain.<p>

_"VOOOI! _HOW LONG ARE YOU STAYING DOWN THERE, _BRAT! GET OUT NOW!" _He screamed.

Inside, where they managed to shield themselves enough so that they won't suffocate or be squished like a pancake, Chrome, Yamamomto, and Basil looked at each other.

"Yamamoto-dono, Chrome-dono, did thee just hear what I heard?" Yamamoto laughed.

"Haha, it must be Squalo! He's the only one I know who shouts like that."

Chrome nodded. "But how do we get out?" She asked. Yamamoto shrugged.

"Squalo-dono will have to help us."

"Hm…I think you're right! SQUALO!" Yamamoto shouts. "We're down here!" He heard some thumping.

"_You brat! I can't believe you got beaten by a wimp like that!" _His muffled voice traveled through the rocks.

"Heheheh…Yeah…We weren't prepared for his suicidal plan," Yamamoto said seriously.

Squalo kicked a few bricks away and tossed the larger pieces away. He took out his flashlight and shines it into the hole. He sees the three teenagers looking up at them. There was a layer of indigo and blue mist surrounding them, most likely a barrier they made at the last moment.

_Voi, at least they are smart enough to do that, _Squalo admitted to himself.

"Hahaha thanks for helping us out, Squalo!" Yamamoto says cheerfully when Squalo forcefully pulls him out, making a large enough hole for the others to climb out after him. Chrome bows shyly.

"Thank you very much, shark-san." Squalo's eye twitches. Yamamoto laughs.

"Shark-san! Maybe I should call you that from now on!"

"VOOOOOOOIIIIIIIII! IS THIS WHAT I GET FOR RESCUING A BUNCH OF UNGRATEFUL BRATS! WHERE'S YOUR TRASH OF A BOSS ANYWAYS!" They stiffen at the question. Yamamoto looks around.

"The last I heard, he was fighting a woman," Yamamoto looked worried. "She sounded quite strong…And they were talking about some kind of fake prophecy."

"_O-Oi! Base-ball Freak! Are you okay?" _Gokudera shouted through the communicator.

"Gokudera! How are you? What's going on? Guess who rescued us?"

"_You idiot! YOU MADE ME DISOBEY JUUDAIME'S ORDERS AGAIN! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!" _It was so loud, even Squalo who didn't have a com heard loud and clear. For innocent Chrome and Basil, the conversation was torture.

"Ahaha…sorry, Gokudera. How's Tsuna?"

"_He went looking for that woman,"_ Gokudera muttered. Yamamoto heard explosions coming from his end.

"Well, he'll do alright!"

"_Of course he will! He's Juudaime! And how the hell did you come out?" _Squalo tore the earphone off Yamamoto's earphone and screamed.

"VOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIII! DO YOU WANT TO MAKE US DEAF! YOU'RE TO FUCKING LOUD!" Chrome and Basil looked at each other. Wasn't Squalo just as loud—if not louder, than Gokudera?

"_S-Squalo? What are you doing here?"_

"I was trying to kill the damn brat during training but he suddenly ran out on me! I came looking for him!" Yamamoto laughed.

"Ah, Squalo. You exaggerate too much."

"What? Shaddup, _brat!"_

"Let's find the rest of them," Yamamoto says. "I'm sure they're going to need our help.

They ran to Gokudera who needed the most hep. Yamamoto's bamboo sword turns into the deadly blade it was and used the blunt side to defeat his opponents.

"You're still too damn soft, brat!" Squalo passed him and sliced up some people behind the kid's back. Yamamoto was about to face off someone but Gokudera stopped him.

"Base-ball Freak! He's an ally!" Yamamoto smiled at the man in front of him.

"Yo! I'm Yamamoto Takeshi! Nice to meet you!" The man blinked in surprise.

"I'm Jacques. My team of men decided to join the Vongola…" Yamamoto grinned.

"Welcome to the team!" Gokudera runs up to them. He watched as they got friendly with each other.

"The ones with a red storm flame on their shirt are on our side," the Storm Guardian pointed to Jacques' chest. "Juudaime let them fight with us." Yamamoto nodded his understanding. Then all the Guardians heard a BOOM and a yell from their boss.

"TSUNA/JUUDAIME/SAWADA/-DONO/BOSS!" Many of them cried out in shock. Then the enemy surged forward again.

"Damn them! I need to be by Juudaime!" Gokudera shouted.

"You go!" Yamamoto said. "We'll take care of things here!" Gokudera looked at the determined swordsmen and friends. He nodded and ran. Reborn decided that he wanted to see how his student was doing, so he also followed Gokudera.

* * *

><p>His breathed out raggedly. She had him pinned to the dirty floor of the warehouse. Tsuna struggled to land a blow on her or to just get away but it was futile. He was too weak. He was exhausted. The assassin had her left arm tight around his neck, blocking his windpipe. He will run out of breath soon. Her right arm held a black and green gun to his temple. She had a sneer on her face.<p>

_Is this it? I'm going to finally die? Everyone is still fighting…fighting for my sake…they…they're getting injured because of me and I let them down… _Tsuna thought tiredly.

"This is it, Decimo,"Tamiko purred. "How does it feel to know you will die with no one to save you?"

Tsuna saved his breath and didn't reply. He closed his eyes and waited for death. She was right. No one could save him now. He heard Gokudera scream through the headphone, but knew he and the others were too far away to reach him in time. His arms fell to his sides.

…His right hand felt something in his pocket…The zipped one…

_It's no use. I'll never beat her. I'm going to die…simple as that… _Then he heard voices. Faint ones. Chrome and Yamamoto… were they coming? No that's not possible…he heard them get crushed…a tear slid down his face.

"_Come on, Tsuna! Lighten up! We'll definitely win!" _Yamamoto said a few days ago.

"_Tsu-kun! Promise me you'll be careful? Come back safely!" _Nana had said when she found out they were leaving at twilight, and won't be coming back until later the next morning. _Sorry…Kaa-san…I'm breaking my promise…_

"_Juudaime! We will _all_ come back and celebrate…I'll even drag that skylark along no matter what he says!" _Something moved within Tsuna. Was this a "my life flashes before me" moment? He was remembering what Gokudera said when he was worried sick about this day.

His eyes opened a fraction to see her still staring at him.

_I…I can't leave them, _he realises. _I have to go home…and at least…see Hibari-san being dragged by Gokudera-kun into Take-Sushi and celebrate with everyone…I can't die. Not now. I have to take every single chance I am given to survive!_

His left hand tried to pull her right one away. She tsked at him and shook her head. His grip on her tightened slightly.

"That won't work. You're weaker than a new born kitten!" As she said this, he slowly unzipped the pocket and grasped…a pink grenade. He took it out and laid it beneath his glove. He poked a gloved finger through the pin's circle.

_Thank you, Lambo…_

"I may be weak if I were alone," he replied slowly. His finger straightened and the pin came half loose. "But you're forgetting one thing."

She cocked a perfect brow. "What might that be? I really doubt I am forgetting anything because I never do."

"You…" Tsuna pulled the rest of the pin out and counted the seconds. "Are forgetting, that I have a family; a family, unlike yours, we will fight for each other. We laugh with each other. We love each other.I… am never alone."As he said this, his voice became stronger with the resolve to live and win. His left hand tore her right one away from his head. The shot echoed and hit the opposite wall as Tsuna pressed the grenade to her.

Two things happened at that moment.

The wall to their right—the back side of the warehouse—exploded and loose bricks fell around them. The ceiling also had a large gaping hole. Lambo's grenade went boom but Tamiko received most of the damage leaving Tsuna slightly charred. Unlike her, he was used to the grenades. He kicked her abdomen and rolled away.

"Kufufu, am I too late?" A sly voice asked.

"Juudaime…"

"...Omnivore. You look pathetic."

_"VOOOOI!"_ Tsuna looked up.

"…Squalo…?" behind him were his two most uncooperative Guardians, Mukuro and Hibari. He looked around to find Yamamoto or Chrome, but neither Guardian was present. He turned back to Tamiko. She was laying a few metres away. The front of her neck and chest were going to be scarred badly.

_Who knew Lambo's grenades could do that to someone… _he thought. His eyes turned back to its usual brown and he walked slowly towards her. Something told him she wasn't dead yet.

"You lose," he said. She chucked.

"Not yet." Tsuna froze. There wasn't_ time _for this! He had to make sure the Luna Family won't bother his family ever again quickly so he can go look for two of his missing friends.

"What are you talking about?"Tsuna asked.

"_The Luna Family has been a small family ever since we moved to Sicily. We took every chance to rise in the mafia world but we have always been put down. Then, there was the prophecy. It was our chance. I must fulfil my duty to my family and defeat you, even if I die!" _In her haste, she had reverted back to Italian.

Tsuna strained hard to understand her. He grumbled about something rubbed his cheeks.

"Sorry, I only understood half of what you said…"

"WHAT THE FUCK?_"_ Squalo screamed. He pointed his sword hand at Tsuna and waved it back and forth as if he was trying to slice up tuna. "DIDN'T YOUR TUTOR TEACH YOU _HOW TO SPEAK ITALIAN?" _His voice was close to breaking point. The brunet winced.

_This is the tenth Vongola Boss…? _Tamiko looked disgusted. _I was beaten by a kid who doesn't even know Italian, and expects to become a mafia boss?_

"Kufufuf. Tsunayoshi, she's basically saying she can't give up because of that prophecy their family got years ago," Mukuro said amusingly. "And that she will have to defeat you no matter what, even if she ends up dying."

"Th-That's not right!" Tsuna said. "You shouldn't sacrifice yourself!" She hissed.

"What do _you _know?" She said.

"I-If they're really your family, they care about you!" Tsuna said. He heard Squalo growl at him from above.

"WHAT THE _HELL_ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, BRAT! THEY'RE _ASSASSINS!_ WE DON'T HAVE THOSE FAMILY FEELINGS YOU WEAKLINGS HAVE! WE DO WHAT HELPS THE FAMILY BECOME STRONG!"

"But…!" Tsuna said.

"VOOOI! JUST KILL HER ALREADY!" He screamed. "IF YOU WON'T DO IT, I'LL DO IT! YEESH!" A flash of white fell down and a shadow moved towards Tamiko. It was so dark without the moonlight it was hard to see what he was doing.

"NO!" Tsuna exclaimed. He activated his flames and flew in front of Tamiko's body. The flames lit up Squalo's face eerily.

"What are you _doing_, brat?"

"You can't kill her!"

"I CAN AND I WILL!" Squalo shouted. "Besides, the rest of her family is probably being killed by the Varia anyways!"

"What are you talking about?" Tamiko demanded. Squalo glared at her.

"The Luna Famiglia threatened the life of the…TCH! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M SAYING THIS TO A FREAKING _BRAT_! Your family threatened the life of… _grrr…Vongoa the Tenth_ and therefore the Vongola have a right!"

Tsuna's knees buckled. Reborn's face was hidden by the fedora hat.

"VOOOIIII! DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!" Squalo said before scoffing. "That's the world of the mafia, kid. Offend someone, and you find a knife in your back the next day." He took this chance to walk around the kid and looked at Tamiko.

"Woman! You brought this upon yourself!" She glared at him since she could do nothing else.

His sword came down.

"NO!" Tsuna screamed and pounced on the assassin. Squalo fell forward and his sword dug into the ground, a few centimetres from Tamiko's neck. Squalo growled.

"BRAT! GET OFF ME!" He tried to shake the boy off. Tsuna didn't reply, only held on tighter. Tamiko took this chance to raise her gun, trying to shoot at Squalo. Shark-san heard a click and moved out of the way. Thanks to all those shots he had to avoid from his boss, he acted on instinct. The bullet missed both him and Tsuna.

"VOI! YOU BITCH! TRYING TO KILL ME WHEN I'M NOT LOOKING IS RUDE! DIDN'T YOUR BOSS TEACH YOU ANYTHING?" Not that he was saying Xanxus cared how they killed.

Mist covered the air, muffling Squalo's yells. Tsuna stiffened and let go of Squalo nervously.

"S-Squalo…"

"What?" He growled.

"Shh."

Five tall figures appeared out of nowhere. Vindice.

"Vindice!" They shouted in dismay. "What are you guys doing here?" Gokudera growled. "The conflict between the Vongola and Shimon is already solved! There is no reason for you to be here!"

"**We are not here for that conflict," **the one in the front said. **"We know that the Shimon will honour their word. They have played their part in protecting the Vongola in times of trouble."**

"Enma-kun has…?" Tsuna asked weakly.

"**They cut your enemies' numbers by half, because half of them went after their family because they thought the Shimon were the Vongola."**

_No wonder… _Tamiko thought. "Then what are you here for?" Tsuna thought he knew the answer, but he dreaded it, hoping it wasn't true.

"**Tamiko Mio, Boss of the Luna Famiglia, you have broken your word as a Mafioso." **

"What? She's the boss?" Most of them exclaimed. Tsuna shot a look at Reborn that looked almost pleading. His tutor stared back at him blankly. He shook his head, warning the Vongola boss to not interfere.

"**You tried to kill Superbi Squalo even though you lost to Sawada Tsunayoshi. Adding to your attempt to release someone from Vendicare, we now announce you arrested in the name of Vendice." **

Shackles wrapped themselves around her neck as she struggled with horror in her eyes. Another moment later, they were gone. Tsuna collapsed.

"Brat!" Squalo exclaimed.

"JUUDAIME!" Gokudera rushed towards them. Tsuna was barely conscious. He was sweating like he's never had before. Reborn frowns and turns Leon into a lamp suspended above them.

"Move." He lands beside Tsuna's right arm and lifts the soggy sleeve. They gasp.

"What the hell?" Was what Squalo said.

"Reborn-san! Didn't his wound heal?" Gokudera asked anxiously as he looked at his boss.

"It did. But the fighting toll must have done something to it."

"EXTREME! WHAT'S GOING ON?" Ryohei asked. He and Lambo charged in.

"WHHAA! Save me!" Lambo screamed from his perch on Ryohei's shoulders.

"LAWN-HEAD! COME HERE QUICKLY!" Gokudera screamed.

"What's wrong?" Ryohei asked as he ran.

"Boss' wound…" Chrome said. She and Yamamoto were charging from the other side.

"What happened to Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked. Jacques looked on. It was as if Tsuna was dying…was this what he meant when he said that he might have joined the Vongola for nothing? Maybe Tsuna was afraid that he would die, and someone with a cold heart would rule the Vongola instead.

"Hurry up and heal him! Something happened!"

Ryohei immediately went to work. Reborn decided that it was time he should help with his Arcobaleno powers. A beam of light shone from his pacifier onto Ryohei's ring, making the sun flames burn more brightly and strongly.

"Um…I found out that I can also heal people…is there anything I can do?" Jacques asked. They stared at him with surprise. Reborn wasted no time.

"Transfer your powers into Ryohei, or the wound. Do it quickly. We have to save him."

Jacques looked at the boy who understood how he felt and then at his ring. He heard the bit when Tamiko said she killed the previous boss through a head set Reborn gave him. His fist clenched.

The man knelt down and touched the arm. Gokduera wanted to push him away but restrained himself. Sun flames twirled around the arm in a way none of them had seen before. With the three of them combined, the warehouse didn't have a single dark spot left.

The light slowly dimmed ten minutes later after they made sure the wound was healed.

"We need Shamal to make sure this won't happen again," Reborn said quietly. Ryohei grunted and Jacques fell backwards. His brother supported him.

"Hey, bro! You alright?"

"…Fine…"

Tsuna's breathing became steady.

"Voi, what was that?" Squalo asked. Reborn looked at him, wondering is he should tell him Tsuna's condition.

"The hell with it," Reborn said. "He can't do anything even if he does know." So, he told him.

Squalo looked at the kid.

"He was fighting with that thing in him? For an entire night?"

"Yup."

"Voi…"

"Squalo…" Tsuna whispered.

"Juudaime! You shouldn't talk now!" Tsuna ignored him and tried to sit up.

"Gokudera-kun, help me up…"

"Hai…"

"Squalo…did you really mean what you said?" He looked into the Varia's eyes. Squalo snorted and looked away.

"As if. The Varia didn't have time to attack all of them. The Luna Famiglia was trying to secretly attack the entire Vongola at once. Obviously, they didn't succeed. Xanxus does whatever he wants and I haven't heard from him in a few days. I don't really know what's going on in Italy. But technically, _we _didn't go looking for them—_they _came looking for us."

He turned around and walked off.

"Squalo! Where are you going?" Yamamoto asked.

"I'm going to my next mission, brat! I have to get there in eight hours and it's in Switzerland!" He mumbled something else and left.

"What did he say?" Ryohei cocked his head. "It was extremely quiet!" Tsuna smiled softly.

_Take care of yourself, brat!_

"It wasn't anything important…" Tsuna said before falling asleep, or unconscious, in his right-hand man's arms.

"We should go home now," Reborn said. "Mama might actually call home to see whether Tsuna is back yet. Someone carry Dame-Tsuna."

They walked off. To everyone's surprise, Hibari was with them—most likely still looking for herbivores to bite to death. And with the bait right next to him, some will definitely go their way. He glared at his surrounding, seeing the wreckage in Namimori. He called Kusakabe.

"_Chairman! Is there anything you need?" _The alert voice asked.

"Get someone to clean up the mess in the abandoned warehouses."

"_Hai—" _Hibari hung up.

* * *

><p>As it turns out, Nana really did call home. They were just unlocking the door to the ruined house when it began ringing. They all frantically looked through the rubbish to find the ringing phone. Yamamoto found it first.<p>

"Hello, Sawada Residence!" He said cheerfully.

"_Yamamoto-kun!" _Nana exclaimed. _"You're up early!"_

"Yeah! We just came back! Ahaha!"

"_Oh…did you have fun?" _She asked.

"Hai! It was very tiring though." Gokudera knocked his head against the wall.

"_Is Tsu-kun around?" _She asked.

"He's sleeping! Haha!"

"_Oh…okay! Well, tell him I'll be back in three days and I expect the house to be neat and tidy!" _Yamamoto took a quick look around and scratched his head.

"Sure…I'll tell him that…Hahaha…" After saying farewell, he hung up. They looked at him.

"Well! Should we clean the house?" He asks all smiles. Gokudera walked up to him and smacked his head.

"Idiot base-ball freak!"

"We should extremely fix Sawada's house!" Ryohei observed.

"I already called someone to fix this place up. It will be done by tomorrow, or I'll know why." Reborn looked around, waiting for the clean-up crew to arrive.

"Hey…kid," Yamamoto said. "What's this about a fake prophecy?"

"It's kind of stupid, to be honest," Reborn said.

"Eh?" Yamamoto was confused to the extreme.

"The prophecy is the complete opposite of what they believed in." Yamamoto scratched the back of his head as he thought.

"I _extremely _don't understand!" Ryohei exclaimed. Gokudera sighs.

"You don't need to understand it if you're so dense, Turf-Top…" Reborn decided that he had enough of Tsuna and his Guardians for a day.

"Gokudera, you explain to them. It's way past my bed time." With that, he walks away to a secret hideout he made, exclusively for Arcobalenos with the Sun pacifier. Gokudera gaped at the Arcobaleno who just left him to explain the situation to the two most idiotic people in the group. They looked at him expectantly as they rested Tsuna against the couch which luckily, survived with minimum damage.

"As you have probably guessed, the prophecy is a fake."

"WHAT? IT'S A FAKE?" Ryohei shouted.

"QUIET DOWN, TURK-TOP! YOU'RE GOING TO WAKE UP JUUDAIME!" On cue, Tsuna stirred and muttered under his breath. Ryohei quieted down.

"I didn't know it was fake!" He said.

"Well, it is. And the real one goes something like this: The moon will rise as the clam comes to be. But fall the moon will, if they crush the shell. Emerge the two to grow the moon. But fail to do, will befall the two."

"What does that mean?" Ryohei asked. Yamamoto laughed slightly.

"Poetry was never my good point…" Gokudera twitched.

"It _means, _the Luna Famiglia—Luna means moon in Italian—started to come about the same time the Vongola—clam—began to rise in power, which was during Vongola Primo's reign. But, the Luna Family will fall—technically be eliminated or fail to exist any longer—if they crush the shell—which is basically the Vongola. If they combine the two families, the Luna Famiglia will grow—which is _rise in power. _But if the two don't cooperate and have an alliance, both families will fall…" Gokudera harrumphed and crossed his arms. "But I don't see how the Vongola can come down if the Luna Family fights us." Yamamoto looks slightly uncomfortable while Ryohei still has a question mark over his head.

"Maybe it will be because of something I will do in the future," Tsuna mumbles.

"Tsuna! You're awake!" Yamamoto looks at his friend worriedly.

"SAWADA!"

"Juudaime! Are you alright?" Tsuna smiles.

"What did you mean by maybe the Vongola's fall will be because of your decision?" Yamamoto asked.

"Well…I hate to say this but, me, as Vongola Decimo, is also in the prophecy, right?" The brunet looks at his friends. They nod.

"If we fight…we will either fight back, or not…if it's me, I'll most likely go for the more peaceful approach. I would rather protect my friends than fight a worthless war over a prophecy…" Tsuna waited for them to digest this.

"So…this prophecy is saying that by your decision, the Vongola will fall?" Gokudera asked. "That prophecy is wrong! Juudaime will never do that!"

"But Tsuna _did _manage to switch the way of a few members of the Luna Family," Reborn says.

"Reborn…didn't you go to sleep?" Tsuna asked.

"I wanted to hear how you would dissect the message." Tsuna looked at his teacher sceptically.

"So…I actually made an alliance with the Luna Family? Is that why there was no… 'falling of the two families'?"

"You got that right."

"But…all Juudaime did was accept Jacques into the Vongola."

"Did Jacques tell you who his parents were?" Reborn asked. They thought about this and shook their heads.

"Jacques' father indeed, worked for the late tenth generation Luna Boss. His mother was two-timing on his 'father'…with the boss…" Gokudera's jaw dropped to the ground. "So, Jacques' father is actually the Tenth Generation Boss of the Luna Famiglia."

"No way…" Tsuna gasped. "So…he was actually…?"

"The heir to the Luna Famiglia."

"How do you know this?" Tsuna exclaims. Reborn smirked.

"Research." Tsuna felt like crushing his tutor. Reborn whacked him on the head. "My point is, you made an alliance with the boss of the Luna Famiglia."

"But tamiko Mio said that she was the Boss," Yamamoto said reasonably.

"The way of the Luna Famiglia is different. The next boss is chosen by the current Boss. That's the more peaceful way. The other way, is to assassinate the Boss and claim the title yourself. _But, _the dying Boss must acknowledge the assassin for being able to kill such a skilful man or woman. It seems that the Boss didn't acknowledge Tamiko, so she was never officially Boss. If she was, she would have been gifted with the Sun Dying Will Flames."

"EH?"

"It is a strange occurrence, but anyone dying can transfer the rest of their flames to another person. Because this method has been used for the last two hundred years, the current boss' Sun Flames are really powerful." Reborn turned to Tsuna. "Jacques was the one who saved your sorry life. But I don't think he knows of his true parentage. I told him just now through a phone call."

"B-But you were only gone for a few minutes!" Tsuna shrieked. Reborn shrugged.

"But he said that he wants to continue being in the Vongola Famiglia."

"But he has his own family…" Tsuna said. He turned away and thought.

"His only family are his friends."

* * *

><p><em>It turns out I am alive, <em>Kenshin writes. He was still in a sheltered part of the battle field. _And so is everyone else. Tamiko Mio is nowhere to be found…most of the other Luna Famiglia members have either run away or are still knocked unconscious. I didn't see anyone getting killed._

After writing another report of what he saw tonight, he sighs. He had also finished listening to a voice message his informant had told him. It really hit him when he realised that the Vongola was actually the good guy.

"This is too much for me to handle…" He says to himself.

* * *

><p>Three days later, Tsuna wakes up. Shamal had visited him while he was unconscious and warned him that he needed to take it easy for another week. Then he charged Tsuna a ridiculous number for making him miss a date. Reborn then ordered the brunet to get dressed.<p>

"Where are we going?"

"Yamamoto's place. There's a party there."

Once there, Tsuna was surprised by how many people were there: Jacques' group, a few members from the CEDEF including his parents, and the Kokuyo Gang. He looked around, surprised that Gokudera hasn't greeted him yet.

"Yamamoto!" He calls. Everyone stops what they were doing to look at him. He felt uncomfortable.

"Tsuna!" Yamamoto says, oblivious.

"Good…evening…" Tsuna says nervously.

"Good evening!" They shout back. He EEP'd quietly.

"Um…Yamamoto," he said when his friend neared. "Where''s Gokudera-kun?"

"He went to find Hibari!"

"HIIIIIEEEE! Seriously?"

"Come on, you bastard! Move!"

"Stop touching me if you know what's good for you, herbivore." Tsuna opens the door again.

"H-Hibari! Gokudera-kun!" Hibari was in the middle of taking out his tonfas and Gokudera his dynamites. Hibari glares at him.

"What is the meaning of this?" He demands.

"Uh…we're having a party…?" Tsuna says weakly. "I wanted you to come…"

"No."

"Hibari," Reborn said. "You still weren't able to fight Tsuna yet, right?" Hibari stops. Tsuna panicked. _Not this again!_

"Consider it as training," Reborn suggested. Tsuna groaned.

"This Saturday," Hibari said. "If you aren't there…I will bite you to death." He walked in, leaving a frozen Tsuna outside. He occupies a corner and orders whatever he wanted. It so happened that it was the exact same spot that Masami choise to sit at a while ago…Yup. Yamamoto's father was definitely calling that the moody corner…

* * *

><p>A week later, with the case solved with no leads on druggies, the commander was furious. He stomps into his office and slams the door. On his desk was a white envelope, which he takes and tears open. He scans the few words and swears. He rips it up angrily. Great. Now one of his best detectives was gone as well. Now what? He stomps out his office again leaving the letter on the floor for someone else to pick up and file away.<p>

On the letter, it read…

_I hereby resign from the crime department of secret investigations._

_The trauma of this case has left me unwilling to take on any more._

_-Ken Tetsu_

* * *

><p>Hi! LLM here! How's everyone today?<p>

Did the ending satisfy you all? I hope it did! Sorry for whatever swearing you may find...it just seemed to fit the character.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and read this till the end!

You must be wondering who exactly was Tamiko trying to free from prison…I don't know either! ^_^

About Kenshin's resignation letter…I have never written my own before (since I don't have a job! XD) so I have absolutely no idea how one looks like. But anyways… can anyone guess what he does in the future? The answer's in one of the earlier chapters. No prize for guessing it though =P

Oh, and I would have loved to make Squalo's "VOI" much longer, but for some reason, it won't show up if I did.

**I SHALL THANK _SAKURO _FOR BEING THE FIRST PERSON TO REMIND ME THAT I DID NOT REALLY EXPLAIN WHAT THE REAL PROPHECY WAS! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!**

Enjoy the Epilogue! It's something I'm planning on doing for future series I have. I promise I'll make the other ones much better! (some time in the far future...)


	14. Katekyo Ondo

**EPILOGUE**

It was a few weeks after Kenshin moved out of the neighbourhood.

One Saturday morning, Tsuna was sleeping in his newly renovated room, snoring away. His room was bigger now; something Reborn said was a must, since he'll have meetings with his family in there from now on so there had to be more room…

BAM!

_DUN DUN DUN-DA!_ Tsuna jumped in his bed. Music was playing downstairs. He rushed down, hoping it wasn't anything bad. The funky tune continued to play. He reached the living room. Reborn was the only one in there since his mother and the kids have left early for something. When Tsuna saw his tutor, he scowled. Reborn grinned.

"Come, let's start now!"

"What! Wait…What's…why IS THERE A MARCHING SONG PLAYING?" Reborn threw something at his student as the music went on.

"Eh?" Tsuna unrolled the paper and found lyrics.

"Don't mind it; just sing as if your life depends on it."

"Hiiiiee…No way!" Tsuna whimpers. Reborn glares.

"Here's the opening! And dance to it!"

"Ciaossu, ciaossu, ciao, ciao," they sang, with Tsuna unsurely. He sweatdropped. _What's with the lyrics?_

"Ciaossu, ciaossu, ciao, ciao, home tutor marching song cia ciaossu…" Tsuna grimaced at the lyrics.

"I'll start first," Reborn said. Tsuna nodded. "The hitman who came around, an Arcobaleno baby, Dame-Tsuna's home tutor, Reborn…"

_Does he have to call me Dame-Tsuna in the song? _Tsuna shrieks.

"…I am cool and sexy, from Leon in my hand, the attack bullet, the special bullet, Dying Will bullet; to make them dance, that is paradise."

"I don't understand anything!" Tsuna said. They sang the chorus again and Reborn threatened Tsuna.

"If you don't sing properly, I'm going to shoot you!"

Tsuna sung quickly to catch up to the song. "Eto… Enrolling the Namimori Middle School, Sawada Tsunayoshi, the _Dame-Tsuna_…I am Vongola…" He was irritated that he had to call himself Dame-Tsuna.

"That's right," Reborn smirked.

"THE TENTH?"

"Do it properly!"

Tsuna gulps. "Appearing in front of me, Kokuyo Middle School and Varia, the peaceful living… goodbye?" Tsuna thought of the times he fought Mukuro and the Varia. His peaceful days were definitely over. But they were worth it.

"Still not good enough," Reborn commented.

"I don't usually sing!" Tsuna defends himself. They do the chorus again.

"Tsuna, sing seriously!"

Just then, the backyard's sliding door opens and Gokudera reveals himself from his hiding spot.

"Juudaime! You dance wonderfully!" His eyes sparkle. Tsuna twitches. He shouldn't be surprised by his Guardians' sudden appearances anymore…everyone else was in the backyard, coming into the living room.

"I-Is that so…" Tsuna says weaky. "This is the first time I have to do a marching song with my friends."

"Well, this only happens once in a while! Ahaha!" Yamamoto said. "I brought food!"

"That's right, Sawada! DANCE _TO THE EXTREME!_" Ryohei shouts and starts banging on a drum he brought with him.

"Hahi! Dancing is pretty hard, ne, Kyoko-chan!" Haru exclaims. Kyoko smiles sweetly.

"That's right! Let's go and have some cake after this! We'll probably be really tired after it all." Tsuna blushes at the sight of his crush.

_Ahh…I'm so happy! I get to dance with Kyoko-chan!_

"NYAAHAHA! LAMBO-SAN WILL DANCE, TOO!" Lambo screams. Tsuna smacks his hand to his head.

"Lambo! You need to follow the beat!" I-pin scolded.

"Eh? When did you two come back?" Tsuna asked. "Where's Kaa-san?"

"She's making breakfast, kora!" Colonnello says as he flies in. "Dance with one hundred percent power, kora!"

"Sawada-dono! I heard that in Japanese Bon Festival dances, you have to wear loincloth!" Tsuna sweatdrops.

"Basil-kun…you're been deceived again! Did my dad tell you that?"

"If you crowd anymore than this, I'll bite you to death."

"HIII! HIBARI-SAN!" _What's he doing here? _

"I told him I'll fight him later if he came." Tsuna felt a chill go down his back.

"Kufufufu… I came to see what you were up to, Sawasa Tsunayoshi…perhaps I'll stay for your mother's wonderful breakfast…are you sure I can't make her my maid?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Mukuro wasn't about to tell them that he also came because he was feeling bored. He was also making good use of Tsuna's promise that he was welcome at any time…

"Dancing alone is boring. It's more fun when the whole family is here. Don't you agree, Tsuna?" Reborn asked.

"Reborn…" Tsuna said in wonder. He looked at his family. Gokudera and Ryohei were already bickering with who should dance beside Tsuna. Yamamoto was trying to calm them down. Mukuro and Hibari were having a glaring contest. Tsuna smiled. _He has a point. It is more fun with my family._

Reborn smirks at his student's soften expression. "Alright, everyone! Dance as if your life depends on it!"

"YOSH!"

Reborn and Tsuna sing the chorus and this time, Tsuna sang with all his might.

"Yes, one more time," Reborn said. "Always watching over Tsuna, today's special training, so train as if you were doing to die! Spartan and nonsense—" Tusna didn't like the sound of that.

"Wait, Reborn—"

"Just do it, " Reborn sang. "This is also training." Tsuna takes in a deep breath and nods.

"For the sake of protecting my comrades, for the sake of protecting my loves ones," his eyes popped out of their sockets at the next words, but he laughs inwardly. "Reborn,"

"What?"

"Lend me… poweerrrrrrrrr!" Reborn smirked when Tsuna said this with no hesitation. Leon turned into a gun. "Sing with your Dying Will!"

BAM!

"Ugh!"

Haru shrieks.

"Tsuna-san! Put some clothes on!"

Then Reborm and a half naked Tsuna sing the chorus.

"_CIAOSSU! CIAOSSU! CIAO! CIAO! CIAOSSU CIAOOSU CIAO!" _

"Amazing," Reborn grins. They continue. "Home tutor marching song cia ciaossu!..._SSSSSss_" Tsuna sighs as the Dying Will bullet wears off.

"Tsuna, you can do it. Once more!" There goes the chorus.

"Home tutor marching song, ciaciacialaciacia cia ciaossu…" Tsuna pants heavily at the longness of the song. The music ends and he collapses on the floor.

"Haaaaaah…that was tiring."

Reborn does a wolf-like howl and that's the end of it.

"It was really fun, though!" Yamamoto said.

Tsuna smiles. Then it falters. _The Luna Family…_

Most of them were already wiped out, put into prisons, or swore loyalty to the Vongola. Jacques and his friends though, they refused to swear loyalty to the _Vongola. _They did say that if they were going to swear loyalty to anyone, it will be to Vongola _Decimo, _the one who will lead the Vongola to better days. They became a group within the Varia. Because of their expertise in that area, they were put directly under Xanxus. In times of need, they would follow Xanxus to war, but if nothing threatened the Vongola in that way, they would follow only Tsuna. The brunet was thoroughly freaked by that statement and the voices which supported it. Reborn and Nono thought that it was a good idea, so they accepted. Xanxus didn't really like it, but he let them be, for his own reasons no one will ever understand.

And the Hitomi siblings? They continued to work for the government, and occasionally they worked for Reborn when he asked them to. Apparently, Kenshin had resigned from his job. Reborn smirked knowingly.

**_O.o.O_**

_**THE END**_


End file.
